Bracknell Leisure Centre could get a £1.6 million cash injection for refurbishment if councillors agree to spend the funds.

Planned upgrades to the centre include a new children’s play zone, an additional fitness studio and a refurbished and redecorated spa. The squash courts will also be relocated, with two new glass-backed courts provided.

A newly-released Bracknell Forest Council document says that the refurbishment could be complete by the end of this year – potentially opening to the public in January 2024.

It adds that areas of the centre not impacted by the refurbishment would stay open – though there may be some disruption due to the works.

But work will only start if councillors vote to spend the money at a full council meeting on Wednesday, July 12

Everyone Active – the private firm that runs Bracknell Leisure Centre on behalf of the council – wants funding to complete the refurbishment, which it began after taking over in 2018.

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Bracknell Forest Council’s executive committee – its leading body of councillors – agreed to back the plans in discussions held behind closed doors on June 20. It now wants approval from the rest of the council.

Under its plan, most of the extra funding would come from cash paid to the council by major housing developers as part of planning permission agreements. But the council would still have to stump up £358,000, at least partly through borrowing.

Council documents also say that the management fee Everyone Active pays to the council would increase. They say that refurbishment would offer a “positive financial return” to the council, leaving it in a “beneficial revenue position.”

But precise figures showing how much the council expects to borrow and get back are kept secret in a confidential annexe shown only to councillors. This is on the grounds that it contains sensitive commercial information.

Councillors could vote to kick the press and public out of the meeting on Wednesday if they decide they want to discuss this.

The discussions will come just days after Whoosh soft play centre closes its doors for the last time on Saturday, 8 July after more than 20 years, to make way for the new children’s play zone.

And the popular Bodyzone Gym – which had also been in the centre – was forced to close at the end of April due to rent increases.

The loss of both has generated a lot of interest in Everyone Active’s plans for refurbishment, with many people sad to see them go.