Belgravia Leisure was awarded the tender ahead of the council's contractor for the past five years, the YMCA, on a range of factors including value for money and level of service.

In adopting the preferred option at last Tuesday night's meeting, a number of councillors expressed their concerns for staff currently employed by the YMCA.

Those fears were allayed by Belgravia Leisure chief executive Nick Cox, who told the Examiner that the company would meet staff employed by YMCA.

"We will interview current staff for a range of positions and we expect very little change from the existing staff structures in place," Mr Cox said.

"We also plan to employ and recruit new staff within the Port Stephens area on an ongoing basis and we expect that 99 per cent of staff will come from the local area."

Belgravia Leisure partners is contracted to more than 40 local and state governments, employing more than 4000 staff in about 100 swim, sports, fitness and leisure facilities.

"We will also work closely with the council on community engagement and programming, and we will be expanding the activities on offer with a strong focus on families," Mr Cox said.

Council's community services manager Steve Bernasconi said that the council had acknowledged the great work done by the YMCA, resulting in a vastly improved service.

"The decision to recommend Belgravia is based largely on price; their bid keeps the cost of running the pools on a similar trend as present, meaning that the cost to ratepayers ... is sustainable and the fees for swimming don't have to increase," Mr Bernasconi said.

Danielle Gilbert, Hunter YMCA regional manager, said that YMCA was focused on ensuring a smooth transition for all staff and customers to the new management company.

"We will begin to facilitate meetings for staff with the new aquatic facility management company and will assess redeployment opportunities for staff at other YMCA centres."