FEARS were raised this week that Minehead's Aquasplash leisure pool could be "closed by default" after it was revealed the facility would remain shut until Easter at the earliest. The pool had been scheduled to reopen this month after being closed for six weeks to allow experts to assess the state of the pool hall, café and roof. But members of West Somerset District Council's cabinet will be told on Monday that the pool will have to remain closed until April after numerous problems were found at the ageing facility. Leisure portfolio holder Cllr Terry Venner said he wanted to brief councillors on the full extent of the problems first, but he did confirm that a number of repairs would have to be done in order to comply with health and safety rules and regulations. "The structural engineers have identified things which need to be done to comply with health and safety," he said. "It's not major works, it's all quite minor, but there is no point filling the pool then having to empty it again in a few weeks' time to do the repairs." But his portfolio predecessor Cllr Simon Stokes said he was concerned many of the repairs were not new but had in fact been pointed out previously by both himself and the council's leisure and community team leader Janice Malarkey. "I have real concerns that Aquasplash may be closed by default, as claims have been made that these problems were unforeseen when, in fact, I believe many of them were foreseen," he said. "I am concerned that a six-week closure is being extended into a three and a half month closure and I will be seeking assurances that there will not be any subsequent problems, especially as full council has previously instructed officers that Aquasplash is not to be closed until a new pool is signed and delivered." He said he was not blaming any individual for the problems currently posed by Aquasplash - which already costs the council £300,000 a year to run - but said he would be seeking "a definite guarantee" that the work which was needed would be done as quickly, and not as cheaply, as possible. Cllr Venner is due to update cabinet members on the full extent of the necessary repairs when councillors meet on Monday. He conceded much of the work now identified by the engineers should have been done "years ago" and said many problems would have been picked up earlier if a two-year rolling maintenance programme had been introduced at the pool. But he pledged the work would be done and the pool reopened as soon as possible. He said: "There is no point spending public money doing repairs if we are not going to reopen it. "This council has committed itself to maintaining Aquasplash until the New Horizons project is signed and sealed." Aquasplash was the subject of a major review by councillors last year when it was concluded that "doing nothing was not an option" as operating costs would continue to rise. Investigations also revealed no money had been set aside to upgrade or maintain facilities at the pool, while there was an apparent lack of communication between pool managers and council finance chiefs. Investigating councillors also discovered there had been a failure to heed warnings about the site's future and discovered a seeming lack of trust between officers and councillors. Cllr Peter Humber, who headed the team, said discussions with leisure chiefs at neighbouring Taunton Deane Borough Council had re-inforced the belief that running Aquasplash was not a financial loss, but a cost the council needed to bear. Cabinet members reaffirmed their support for the pool when they met at the end of last year and agreed to spend £2,500 to employ a structural engineer plus £20,115 to buy an air conditioning unit for the gym and health suite to save an estimated £20,000 a year in running costs. They also agreed price rises and a cut in opening hours in bid to cut operating costs. At the time, Cllr Venner told councillors: "I feel this the beginning of a new road rather than the end of an old one."