A big £1M birthday boost for Wantage Leisure Centre
Published 29 January 2026
In what will be its 50th year, Wantage Leisure Centre is going to see some big refurbishment projects taking place throughout 2026.
Vale of White Horse District Council, who own the centre, has been working on plans to refresh and update facilities with a budget of £982,000.
Funding for the work comes from developer contributions in the area (CIL and S106) and Capital funding from the council’s budget.
The new refurbishments planned will see an extension of the existing gym, which will see it increase to twice its current size. The gym will also have new floors, lighting and be freshly decorated.
New state of the art gym equipment will be installed once the extension of the gym is complete. This will improve the user experience of the gym with the latest market leading products for gym customers.
The wet change area of the leisure centres is also going to have an upgrade. Making it feel fresh, light and welcoming, to improve the customer experience when coming to the centre. The pool is a popular facility at Wantage and is regularly used by schools. As such the layout of the changing areas will change to improve safeguarding and privacy for users. New toilets will be installed and LED lighting fitted throughout the area. There will also be new vanity areas with back lit mirrors and hairdryers.
The decarbonisation work, to install air source heat pumps and solar panels, which started in March 2025, is still on going and expected to be completed in the coming months.
As part of this work, Oxfordshire County Council has contributed to the funding through the joint use agreement, and that has enabled Vale of White Horse District Council to carry out additional refurbishments to the roof that will improve the thermal performance of the building. This will help the council to save money on energy costs and help reach their target to reach net zero in its own operations by 2030.
Cllr Andy Crawford Cabinet Member for Property and Housing and ward member for Wantage Charlton at Vale of White Horse District Council said: “I’m really pleased that these projects are going to be able to take place this year. The decarbonisation of the centre is a great step forward for us being able to run the centre effectively and save money on energy costs. Now that project is coming to an end we can focus on the refurbishment work which is going to greatly improve the experience for residents in the local area. It’s a great birthday gift to the centre and, it doesn’t stop there, with more work in the pipeline!”
Cllr Jenny Hannaby, Ward Councillor for Wantage and Grove Brook said: “This is great news for residents in Wantage and those in the area that use the centre. These new facilities will ensure that people keep using it and having a great experience when they visit.”
Wantage Leisure Centre will be 50 in May and plans are underway to make it a very special celebration. The council will work with their leisure contractors Better UK to make it a birthday to remember, with details being announced in due course.
Earlier this month the council announced the extension of their contract with GLL who manage the Better Leisure Centres in the district, securing fresh investment in facilities until 31 August 2029.
You can keep up to date with all the activities that take place at Wantage Leisure Centre on their Facebook page and bookings can be made via the website or app.
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