Bedford Borough Council has agreed a 999-year lease of the former Oasis Beach Pool site to David Lloyd Leisure, clearing the way for a private members’ health and racquets club on one of the town’s most hotly debated pieces of land.
The long lease covers the 6.29-acre site on Cardington Road, which was home to the pyramid-roofed Oasis Beach Pool until councillors voted to close it permanently in 2024.
The decision, signed off by Mayor Tom Wootton (Conservative) yesterday (Thursday), allows council officers to finalise lease terms and negotiate a community use agreement to secure access for local residents, schools and community groups.
From winter shutdown to long lease
The move is the latest step in a long and often controversial process regarding the site’s future.
In autumn 2024, Bedford Borough Council announced that Oasis Beach Pool would close for the winter while it carried out a strategic review of its leisure facilities, saying it needed time to decide whether the building could remain open in the long term.
Read: Oasis leisure pool earmarked for permanent closure
That review later concluded that continuing to operate the pool was no longer financially viable, pointing to:
- Around £759,000 in operating costs for 2024/25, excluding major repairs
- A 2023 condition survey identifying more than £1.5 million of repair and maintenance work needed up to 2028
- A separate roof survey in April 2025, putting essential roof repair costs at around £800,000 within five years, with a full roof replacement estimated at over £2 million
Cllrs then agreed to earmark Oasis for permanent closure, prompting strong criticism from opposition members and campaigners who argued the town could not afford to lose another public pool and that families were being priced out of private alternatives.
The council insisted at the time that it would seek a new operator to keep the site in leisure use, rather than selling it off for housing or retail.
Read: Mayor clashes with opposition as Councillors agree to close Oasis Beach Pool
David Lloyd on top
Following the closure decision, the Oasis site was formally marketed to external leisure operators in late 2025.
Five full bids were received and scored against criteria including social value, deliverability and financial return. David Lloyd Leisure came out on top and was selected as the preferred bidder.
Read: Bedford Borough Council pleased with response to Oasis Beach Pool sale
The new decision notice says the 999-year lease will:
- Secure a significant capital receipt for the council
- Ensure the land stays in leisure use
- Lead to “modern, high quality leisure facilities” on the site
- Create new jobs and apprenticeships for local people
Under agreed heads of terms, David Lloyd will be required to build out the new health and racquets club once contracts are exchanged, with a planning application expected to be submitted by May 2026.
The development is forecast to create around 75 full-time equivalent operational jobs, along with apprenticeship opportunities.
Community access and outdoor facilities
The council says it will negotiate a community use agreement as part of the lease, to secure access for local groups, schools and residents.
In addition, £600,000 of council funding is being set aside to create free-to-use outdoor leisure facilities for the local community on land next to the site.
These outdoor facilities will be separate from the private members’ club and are intended to provide open-access space for local people following the closure of the publicly run pool.
The council argues that, taken together, the David Lloyd investment and the new outdoor area will deliver a better long-term outcome for the site than keeping the ageing Oasis building open amid mounting repair bills.
What happens next
The next key milestones will be:
- Finalising lease terms between the council and David Lloyd
- Submitting a planning application, currently targeted for May 2026
- Designing and delivering the adjacent outdoor community leisure facilities
The lease decision can be implemented from 06 February 2026 if it is not called in for further scrutiny.
Additional reporting by John Guinn,
Local Democracy Reporter
