The future of Basingstoke Leisure Park

The masterplan

Full of ideas to reinvigorate the leisure park, with a new park running from east to west, connecting new and improved attractions with green open spaces, picnic areas and a range of free outdoor activities. The masterplan will look at how the future leisure park would work together with the emerging plans for Basingstoke town centre, which could see an increased leisure offer and other proposals to link up leisure facilities, open spaces and heritage attractions in the area.

As part of the masterplan, a modern Aquadrome, the only facility that the council owns on the park, will be built in a new location. All other facilities at the leisure park, including the ice rink, Milestones Museum, the cinema, bingo and bowling, will stay in place with operators encouraged to improve and enhance them.

Less than a mile from Basingstoke Railway Station and the town centre, the masterplan proposes improved pedestrian and cycle access and routes and within the park itself to encourage more people to walk, cycle or use public transport to get there.

The masterplan supports the council’s climate change and air quality strategy, incorporating existing water features as part of the landscape and encouraging biodiversity.

The illustrative masterplan below shows how the leisure park will be developed, incorporating the existing leisure facilities with space for more operators and improved outdoor space.

View the full masterplan

Leisure park illustrative plan (opens in a new window)

A new Aquadrome

The Aquadrome is a council facility, currently managed by Basingstoke and Deane Community Leisure Trust and run by Serco.

We have been working on plans to build a new modern Aquadrome, with Cabinet approving a range of new facilities and how the new centre would be delivered, at a meeting in February 2024.

Following an extensive search, Places Leisure, part of the PfP Group which is one the UK’s leading social enterprises, has been announced as the preferred bidder to take forward plans for the new state-of-the-art facility.

The first look at the plans for new energy-efficient water and leisure complex have been revealed, marking a major milestone in the project.

Subject to planning permission, the new action-packed complex will move to a prime spot in the centre of the leisure park on land next to Buzz Bingo. This will allow the current Aquadrome to remain open until the next-generation centre is ready.

Next steps

A planning application for the new water and leisure complex is expected to be submitted in 2026 and, subject to approval, the facility could open in 2029. This will allow the current Aquadrome to remain open until the new centre is ready.

As well as progressing plans for the new water and leisure complex, Places Leisure will take over the management of the Aquadrome, Basingstoke Golf Centre and Tadley Health and Fitness Centre from January 2027.

Existing facilities

The only facility that the council owns on the leisure park is the Aquadrome. Proposals for a new Aquadrome can be viewed on the page ' A new Aquadrome'.

The leisure park itself belongs to the council but most of the buildings are owned on long leases by the operators or their landlords. These companies were consulted to understand their own vision for the future of their facilities, encouraging them to update what they offer to the borough.

These facilities, including the ice rink, Milestones Museum, cinema, bingo and bowling, will stay in place. We are working with the operators to support plans for their improvement and enhancement, including creating much more attractive and vibrant public spaces around them.

Major refurbishment work is currently ongoing at Basingstoke’s ice rink. The investment from new long-term lease holder Nice Leisure Limited will secure the future of ice in Basingstoke for the next 15 years through a programme of repairs to the ice pad and upgrading of the rink facilities, led by Planet Ice, as the operator.
Updates on the refurbishment work will be provided on the Planet Ice website.

Leisure park illustration of existing buildings and trees (opens in new window)

Basingstoke Golf Centre

The golf centre neighbours the leisure park but does not form part of the masterplan. Separate proposals are in place for a possible indoor water park resort located on the golf centre site along with proposals to relocate the golf centre facilities.

Proposals to relocate facilities at Basingstoke Golf Centre

Progress on possible indoor water park resort

Open spaces and outdoor activities

The masterplan aims to introduce good quality, well-designed green spaces at the leisure park that residents and visitors will be able to enjoy, potentially including nature trails, an outdoor gym, play areas and quiet places to relax and unwind.

It includes the idea of a new park running east to west bringing together existing and new leisure facilities and could accommodate ‘pop up’ activities and events.

The masterplan will make the most of the existing trees and landscape, with planting selected to improve biodiversity The image below shows how people could move through the park and how access would be improved for the local communities.

Leisure park illustration of people flow around the site (opens in a new window)

As part of the plans, there may be an opportunity to give the public more access to Saunders Field as an eco-conservation zone and a more informal green open space. Any proposals for this will respect its importance to the borough for biodiversity and flood alleviation.

These are some of the ideas for activities, facilities and types of features that could be incorporated in the leisure park outdoor green spaces:

Leisure park possible new facilities (opens in a new window)

Possible new attractions

There is interest from different types of leisure operators who want to bring the latest activities and experiences to Basingstoke, which fits our aim to bring a variety of exciting attractions to our leisure park for people of all ages and interests.

Among the types of new attractions are padel tennis, active leisure, indoor and outdoor golfing facilities and waterparks. The masterplan offers lots of opportunities to use undeveloped land to bring in new leisure operators and supporting facilities. This will bring new and interesting jobs to the leisure park.

We will consider all options for improving the leisure offer in Basingstoke.