Swimmers have finally been able to go for a dip at the new Leys Pool – 18 months after work first started.

The £9.2m complex has opened to the public and families taking the plunge have said how pleased they are with facilities.

Full-time mum Lauraine Dineen told how she and her boys had been waiting in anticipation as the pool went up, passing it every day.

She won’t have been the only one.

After a year’s delay, down to various legal wrangles, and after splitting opinions across the city, many will have been waiting to judge the finished product.

Some were sad to see Temple Cowley Pools shut and campiagners did fight valiantly to save it.

However, that in itself should not take away from the fact that the new Leys Pool is turning out to be a welcome addition to the area.

This new complex should not be tainted by previous battles between the council and TCP campaigners, but instead measured on its own merits.

That is not to say there haven’t been issues. Swimming clubs have already raised concerns about the size of the pool and its ability to host galas in the way that TCP did.

But residents in Blackbird Leys will hopefully be able to make good use of the pool and its added extras.

Often developments of this nature can lead to further regeneration in an area, and that will no doubt be welcomed by people on the estate.

It’s not the end of the Oxford City pools saga by any means, simply the start of a new chapter.