Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council has selected the Sovereign Way Mid Car Park, close to the existing centre, as the location for the new building. There is plenty of parking nearby and the location is also easy to access from the town centre on foot or by public transport. Click to view map

Detailed designs for the replacement centre are currently being developed. At this stage, we’re aiming to provide significant improvements on what is available at the current centre.  These include an enhanced gym, dedicated spin studio, sports hall, a new café, soft play area with party space, and an active wellbeing suite with unique power assisted exercise equipment.

The new centre will be highly energy efficient, using solar panels and air source heat pumps to provide electricity.

We worked with leisure industry experts to identify the best possible mix of facilities that can be accommodated in the new building. We have also asked current users and the wider community for feedback on the outline proposals.

An important consideration in making final decisions was the ability for facilities to meet current and future demand so they can provide sufficient income to ensure the centre is economically viable.

The cost of the new centre will be funded by a combination of council reserves, borrowing and a contribution from the Tonbridge and Malling Leisure Trust (tmactive).

The current centre is more than 40 years old and much of the fabric and infrastructure has reached the end of its economic life. It’s also very energy inefficient and even with millions of pounds of investment may not be able to meet new carbon emission targets for public buildings.

The internal design is also problematic with redundant spaces, poor changing facilities and a layout that makes some areas hard for customers to access.

We hope to have the new centre open in 2028. The existing Angel Centre will remain open until then.

The new centre will be run by tmactive, the council’s leisure trust partner which operates the existing Angel Centre and other leisure facilities in the borough. The current joint membership with Tonbridge Swimming Pool will be retained.

The current Angel Centre will be unaffected and will remain open until the new facility is fully operational. Our current plans are for the existing centre to be demolished once the new one is completed. The site could then be redeveloped for other purposes as part of a wider regeneration of the surrounding area. See more on the Tonbridge Town Centre website

Yes. The planning application was submitted in March . It is scheduled to be considered at the borough council’s full council meeting on July 14, when elected Councillors from across the borough will be presented with the application and invited to vote on the proposals.  

Yes, management of the new Angel Centre will continue with the Tonbridge and Malling Leisure Trust, which will protect community use through a legally binding management agreement. 

The site location and scale of the new centre was approved as part of the Council’s Town Centre Masterplan, which analysed how this area of Tonbridge should develop. We also analysed usage of the space at the current Angel Centre and found that certain areas are underutilised. The proposed footprint is large enough to deliver a modern, efficient, effective and flexible mix of spaces, to provide a range of activities focussed on health, wellbeing and the community. And we’re maximising the space by incorporating multi-purpose studios that can accommodate a variety of activities from yoga to events and meetings. Overall, the new centre is smaller by design, but better meets demand, will be more efficient to operate and more sustainable for the future.   

The council is meeting with as many clubs and groups at the existing Angel Centre as possible, to discuss use of the new facilities, including the sports hall. There are four courts marked out for a variety of sports including football, basketball, badminton, table tennis and volleyball. Court time will be managed online. We anticipate that all current clubs and groups using the sports hall will still be able to participate.

Yes. Careful consideration has been given to this.  There are three multi-purpose studios that have been designed to adapt to accommodate a range of groups for exercise, wellbeing and community meetings or events.  This area has been closely reviewed following feedback from the public consultation exercise to ensure the needs of existing users are met.