PLANS to hand over sports facilities and swimming pools to a leisure trust have been put on hold for 18 months, following a year of upheaval.
Under the proposals, Salisbury district council would relinquish control of Five Rivers leisure centre, Durrington swimming pool and the sports centres at Tisbury and Amesbury, which would be taken over by a charitable trust with all profits being ploughed back into the service.
Supporters of the scheme said the trust would be able to generate extra funding for sports provision because it could apply for charitable grants, which the council is unable to do.
They said this could allow more people in rural areas access to leisure facilities, and offer extra sporting opportunities across south Wiltshire.
The trust could also save the district council an estimated £106,000 over the first five years - but opponents are worried about the impact the changes could have on staff and levels of service in the sports centres.
Five Rivers leisure centre has been blighted by pool closures, staff shortages and cold showers, with regular complaints from disgruntled swimmers.
There are also concerns that the trust could fail to reach financial targets and cause further disruption for staff.
Community and housing portfolio holder John Cole-Morgan told last Wednesday's cabinet meeting: "In March, we had an event when we finished the contract with Leisure Connection, which previously ran Five Rivers, because we were not altogether happy.
"Its management came back to the council.
"It is not timely to have another upheaval in the immediate future.
"We also have to work out exactly how profitable Five Rivers is.
"Before any final conclusion on the leisure trust option, we want to give Five Rivers time to really re-establish itself."
The district council is negotiating with Wiltshire county council, which owns Amesbury, Tisbury and Durrington sports centres, over how much money it would spend on the facilities before they were taken over by the trust.
There are fears the district council could be left with a large bill, or see the deterioration of the sports centres, because of lack of capital investment.
"We don't want to be saddled with costs," said Mr Cole-Morgan.
"If the time is not right, it could become a tremendous burden on our reserves.
"We should defer the decision for 18 months and keep the situation under review."
After a unanimous vote in favour of delaying a decision until 2006, council leader Kevin Wren said: "We are talking about leisure services for 118,000 people. This shows how careful we have to be."
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