The council says Sevenoaks Leisure Centre may have to close while the Land East scheme is built. Keeping it open could add several million pounds.

Sevenoaks Leisure Centre could have to close while the new town-centre scheme is built, the district council has said. The building on Buckhurst Lane holds the town’s only public swimming pool.

The warning is in a written update from the council’s Cabinet member for finance, Cllr Julia Thornton. It went to the Scrutiny Committee on Thursday 22 October. (Sevenoaks District Council, Portfolio Holder for Finance and Investment, update to Scrutiny Committee 22 October 2026)

The update says: “Whilst the potential closure of the existing leisure centre during construction has been identified as a possible risk, the Council is actively exploring every opportunity to avoid this outcome.”

Why keeping it open costs more

The leisure centre sits inside the Land East of the High Street site, the council-owned land the council is redeveloping with Wates. The plan includes a new leisure centre to replace the old one. (Sevenoaks Online, Land East: Wates picked, £40m loan on table)

Keeping the old building open for longer has a price, according to the update. It says there are “significant financial implications associated with retaining the facility for longer, potentially adding several million pounds to project costs by delaying a critical phase of the development programme.”

The council also says it gets no government money to replace leisure centres. Any new centre “must be funded through a development scheme that is financially self-sustaining”. (Sevenoaks District Council, Finance and Investment update, 22 October 2026)

Nothing is decided yet

The update makes clear the scheme is at an early stage:

  • the Development Agreement with Wates is still being finalised
  • proposals “will continue to evolve throughout 2026 and into 2027”
  • leisure provision, parking and the scheme’s overall viability are all still being worked through
  • cross-party councillor engagement on the next phase has started, covering community engagement and communications

No closure date, length of closure or decision has been published. The update says members and officers will “continue to consider all available options to balance community aspirations with the financial constraints facing local government”.

In July, councillors approved a loan of up to £40 million to Wates for the scheme’s public works. They handed officers the authority to sign it without a further vote. (Sevenoaks Online, Councillors approve the £40m Land East loan)

Also in the update

The same paper reports on three other council projects:

  • Farmstead Drive, Edenbridge: the housing has been sold to West Kent Housing Association. The council keeps the community room and shop unit, and has tenants lined up for both. Completion is expected later this year, within budget.
  • Shurlock Avenue sinkhole, Swanley: the land is the council’s, but who owns the infrastructure below ground “remains unclear”. Extra measures are in place to keep people out while investigations continue.
  • Suffolk House, Sevenoaks: a new tenant, Warners, is preparing to move in.

(Sevenoaks District Council, Finance and Investment update, 22 October 2026)

What it means for you

For now, nothing changes. The leisure centre is open as normal, and no closure has been agreed or timetabled.

If it did close during the works, the nearest public pools run by the same operator, Everyone Active, are White Oak in Swanley and Edenbridge. Our swimming pools near Sevenoaks page compares the timetables and prices.

The Scrutiny Committee met on Thursday 22 October. Its minutes had not been published when we checked on 23 October; the papers are on the council’s meeting page. To raise the leisure centre with your district councillor, find them on the council’s councillor list.

We will report what the committee says, and any decision on the leisure centre when it is made. Our earlier reporting on the scheme is on our Land East of the High Street page.

Sources

Image: Sevenoaks Leisure Centre, photo by N Chadwick, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph.