The final report of a group of councillors set up to look into how and why the Oasis leisure centre was closed, and how it can be best re-opened has passed the first hurdle to getting to Swindon Borough Council’s cabinet.

Members of the council’s scrutiny committees Oasis task group voted unanimously to approve the final report of the investigation which says it is important to ensure a re-opened, or replaced centre is affordable and available to all – and which urged the cabinet to ensure there are take-back clauses in any further leasing of council property.

Private company Seven Capital owns a 99-year lease for the building which was council owned and run. In that lease there is no provision for the council to take the centre back if it shut – which it did when operating company Better said in October it could not make enough money to keep running it.

That is one of the issues the report says has hindered getting the centre back open. It says an initial lease with a different company Morai removed a break clause as it was seen as necessary to allow Morai to raise money. When the deal faltered, the lease was agreed with Seven Capital. The report says: “When the subsequent decision was made to enter into the agreement with Seven Capital, it could be reasonably argued that the Council should have re-inserted the. As we have seen with the golf course at Highworth shutting despite having a keep-open clause, these clauses are not infallible, but they offer more protection than not having them.”

This was also raised by a member of the public Tony Hillier who asked the council’s solicitor about the legal advice given to the council when the lease was arranged. He said: “If the people of Swindon had known the lease was being arranged wouldn’t they have wanted a buy back clause in the lease?”

The council's solicitor Lisa Hall was not with the authority when the lease was agreed and said she could not say.

Council leader David Renard said he looked forward to the report coming to cabinet for debate where the issues would be discusses. He said that no progress could be made on the future of the centre until a decision was made by Historic England on whether to list the building.

He said: “I understand we’re waiting for a decision by the minister. No developer would want to do anything before that decision was known.”

The report will go to the scrutiny committee on September 13 and if approved will be put to the cabinet.