The staggering £93million cost of running 13 of the county’s leisure facilities over the next 15 years has been the driving force behind Wiltshire Council’s plan to close or transfer them.

The money saved would be combined with the sale of five sites, two in Trowbridge, two in Melksham, and one in Warminster, to meet the £117million costs of opening new community hubs at Melksham, Warminster, and Trowbridge and improving other centres not affected by the cuts.

There will also be improvements made to the Wiltshire School Of Gymnastics in Lysander Road, Bowerhill, Melksham, through a one-off capital grant.

A new learner pool will also be built at Devizes Leisure Centre.

Cllr Stuart Wheeler, cabinet member for leisure, said: “We had to come up with a reasonable plan as to how we can provide decent leisure for the people of Wiltshire for a long period of time.

“We cannot afford to continue running 23 facilities.

“Some of the indoor leisure facilities are outdated, inefficient and unsustainable.

“With the cost of keeping these going it is actually better to invest in new facilities.

“It has become evident that to do nothing is not an option for us and the investment in a planned maintenance programme without seeing improvements to the service would be an inefficient use of our resources.

“While there may be some difficult debates to be had, it is right that we have them.”

The new community hubs will include some leisure, though there are no guarantees if this will include swimming pools.

The hubs will include other council services and form part of a plan to replace and sell-off the majority of 95 council properties across the county.

The council is facing a £25 million maintenance bill just to keep these offices open and is desperate to get rid of them. Council bosses issued a rallying call to community groups to take on seven of the centres, but six will not be open to transfer.

They have pointed to success stories such as Calne Leisure Centre which is now managed by a community-led group and hope that other town councils will follow their lead.

Chief executive Andrew Kerr said: “If they were taken over there would be a five-year period where they will have some funding from us. “After that the community will start to invest in them. They are right to be worried but we can’t afford to maintain these 23 properties. “I want to be able to hand the facilities over to the people of these communities.” If a community group takes over a centre it will receive limited funding from Wiltshire Council for a period of five years. The amount of money made available would decrease each year. Groups would not need to buy the site, they would instead lease the building for an agreed number of years. Council leader Jane Scott pointed to the success of community trusts in Calne and Cricklade, where the towns took over their leisure centres after North Wiltshire District Council proposed closing them in 2005. “The success, particularly of Calne, shows what can be done,” said Cllr Scott. The plans will be opened up to public consultation on August 2 and the public will have until October 29 to air their views. A questionnaire will be produced which will be distributed to council offices, libraries, and leisure centres. It will also be available online through the council’s website. A decision will eventually be made on what goes and what stays by Cabinet members at the end of the year, but the council has made it clear some centres will close.