An “in-principle” decision to demolish a town’s chief public leisure centre is being challenged by back-bench councillors.

Cabinet members at Tonbridge and Malling borough council decided at a meeting at the start of December that the Angel Centre in the middle of Tonbridge should be knocked down and the borough should look for a new site to build a replacement.

But five opposition councillors have criticised the decision as being too vague and have called the matter in for review by the council’s overview and scrutiny committee.

The five – Cllrs Mark Hood (Green), George Hines (Green), Anna Cope (Green), Frani Hoskins (Lib Dem) and David Thornewell (Lib Dem) – said: “We disagree with the principle of demolishing the Angel Centre until a specific or shortlist of locations for its replacement has been agreed and we call on the Cabinet to reconsider its decision.”

The Angel Centre was constructed in 1981 at the same time as the Sainsbury’s supermarket and surrounding car parks.

The Angel replaced community facilities in Lyons Crescent.

The centre comprises meeting rooms, a function suite, and a large community hall with a stage, as well as a sports hall with six badminton courts, a dance studio, a pre-school and a gym.

Since 2013, it has been operated for the council by the Tonbridge Leisure Trust, an independent body.

But it has grown too expensive.

The borough has spent £687,000 in maintenance over the past 10 years, and has spent £2.5m since 2000 on improving the building and equipment.

Despite this, the Leisure Trust’s business plan predicts a £265,000 loss in the financial year ending this March.

The operators say that the building is outdated and no longer appeals to modern-day users.

In addition, it is grossly carbon inefficient, and the council says it would incur massive costs in refitting the building if it is to meet its target of becoming a carbon-zero authority by 2030.

It estimates that refurbishing the centre to meet that aim and modernising the facilities could cost up £14.58m.

The cost of a new facility is put at up to £19.8m, but it is expected that a new centre would be both cheaper to run and raise a bigger income from customers.

Cllr Mark Hood argued that councillors had not been provided with enough detail to make an informed decision.

He said: “When replacing the Angel was first talked of last March, it was decided a new centre would go next to the swimming pool.”

That was later ruled out by council leader Matt Boughton (Con) amid protests that it would spell the end of the town’s popular miniature railway that currently occupies the site.

Cllr Hood said: “Now we don’t know where it would be.

“The council employed a specialist firm of consultants to review all the borough’s land assets, and their report should have been received months ago.”

Cllr Hood said: “The council is being asked to make big decisions without all the facts.”

He said that one option that he would like to see explored would be to recentre the new leisure centre on one site, adjacent to the Angel, along with the town’s library and with the council’s offices re-located from their existing home in Kings Hill.

He said: “The Angel may no longer be fit for purpose as a leisure centre, but perhaps it could be re-purposed to host other council functions.”

Nevertheless, Cllr Hood agreed the Angel was past its sell-by date as a leisure centre.

He said: “You only have to visit the borough’s leisure centre at Larkfield to see how far gone the Angel is.”

The call-in will be discussed at a scrutiny committee meeting in the Council Chamber at Gibson Drive tonight (Wednesday) at 7.30pm.

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