A QUESTION mark looks set to hang over the future of Minehead's Aquasplash pool until June. A working group of district councillors, pool users and the local primary care trust had been expected to report back to West Somerset Council on the options for the site before the end of this month. But it seems negotiations have yet to be concluded with recreation specialist Tone Leisure, which has now called for an engineer's report to assess the condition of the site. West Somerset Council portfolio holder for leisure, culture and recreation, Cllr Neil Parbrook, said: "The working group is meeting regularly to discuss options put to the council with regards to the future operation of Aquasplash. "The council is providing the facility's financial history to interested parties and, in response to Tone Leisure's request, has commissioned an engineer's report to establish the current condition of the plant machinery. "There is undoubtedly a strong desire to keep the facility open and the council is doing everything in its power to assist. "However, it is only fair that any third party is given all the information they require, plus the time necessary to consider any information and any potential management options arising. "This means that it is unlikely that the working group will be able to report back to council within six weeks, although it is hoped that a report will be ready by June at the latest." The Free Press has learned that if Tone Leisure does not want to take on the pool, one of the main options being considered by the working group is the permanent closure of Aquasplash to save money to fund a replacement facility on the New Horizons site as soon as possible. Sources said that, privately, the working group accepted that cash needed to be saved in order to provide a new fit-for-purpose pool sooner rather than later and that shelling out more money on Aquasplash could delay a new facility indefinitely. Publicly, though, members have been keen to show their support for keeping Aquasplash open. The pool would have been permanently closed by now had the previous Conservative administration's plans to sell off Vulcan Road to fund a multi-million pound sports centre gone ahead. The council agreed in 2005 to close Aquasplash as soon as the planned sports centre deal within the healthplex site had been "signed and sealed", meaning residents would have been without a swimming facility for at least a year until the multi- million sports complex had been built. But with that aspect of the scheme now in tatters, the working party is focusing its sights on trying to provide a new pool for the district. Cllr Parbrook added: "The working group will continue to actively consider any other options that may be put to the council." As well as Cllr Parbrook, the working party includes local ward members Cllrs Ian Melhuish, Norman Hercock, Michael Downes and Bryan Leaker. Aquasplash users are represented by Jim Butterworth and Michael Kingston-Lee, while a member of the primary care trust is representing the interests of groups such as PALS. The district council has already unanimously voted to formally withdraw from the operation of the Aquasplash site and staff have been handed redundancy notices. Tone Leisure only formally stepped into the ring as a potential operator at a heated district council meeting at the end of February, when the company's managing director Juliette Dickinson revealed she had had a guided tour of the Aquasplash site. To cheers from the 250 members of the public who had packed into the Minehead Methodist Church Hall for the meeting, Mrs Dickinson said her company would be willing to help the council operate the facility. She said she believed the centre had huge potential and outlined the need for a new pricing strategy, investment in the health and fitness side of the centre and the need to expand the range of lessons. However, it is likely any offer from Tone Leisure will have strings attached and the working group will need to strike a balance with the needs of residents, the council's own struggling finances and the aspirations of the community for a new pool.