Publicly-funded leisure operators High Life Highland and Inverness Leisure are a step closer to a merger as part of Highland council cost-cutting.
Faced with a three-year budget-saving target of £46.3million, the council yesterday approved the move.
Senior councillors, however, insisted that services provided by the two organisations would not suffer as a result.
The merger was approved by members of the council’s education committee, meeting in Inverness.
Committee chairman Drew Millar acknowledged that there had been significant media interest in the issue in recent weeks, but described the matter as “probably one of the easiest savings that the council will have to take, if agreed”.
He promised a seamless merger of the two services and suggested that the joint operation could result in the enhancement of some services.
Mr Millar added that the respective organisations’ chief executives had held positive talks and were each “confident of delivering an effective new arrangement.”
Inverness Ness-side Liberal Democrat councillor Alasdair Christie said he did not have a problem with the move but wanted to set some “terms of reference”.
He said: “I wouldn’t want to see a report coming back that showed a reduction in the services of Inverness Leisure or High Life.
“I want it spelt out to them that we don’t want a rationalisation plan that says there will be less swimming time, less sports facilities, less library time, less early years activities and things like that.”
Inverness Leisure which operates the Bught Park leisure centre and aquadome will join HLH which runs council-owned museums, libraries and swimming pools across the region.
The council’s chief executive Steve Barron will now formally request that the two organisations unite to produce a rationalisation plan by the end of September.
The council last year agreed budget measures which reduced the two organisations’ funding by 3% over four years.