The council-backed plans would transform the western part of the site into a new leisure centre, significantly smaller than the current facility. The King Alfred Leisure Centre first opened in 1939 and was used as a navy training ground during the Second World War. In 2024, the council gave the go-ahead in principle for moves to demolish the building and replace it with a £47 million leisure centre. It said its scheme would create a leisure centre ‘planned from first principles’ which ‘retains the full range of key facilities’ currently offered by the existing centre. The debate ultimately became one of refurbishment versus replacement, when we believe there was a credible third option: retaining, expanding and enhancing the existing leisure centre.