CAMPAIGNERS have vowed to oppose plans for housing on the site of Oxford’s former Temple Cowley Pools.

Catalyst Housing bought the facility from Oxford City Council for £3.5m in December, after the authority rejected a bid by Save Temple Cowley Pools campaign group to run it.

The developer said it would build 47 homes on the site, with about half expected to be affordable.

A deadline for campaigners to mount a legal challenge against the sale has now passed, but they said they would challenge plans for the homes instead.

The group is lobbying Catalyst to allow it to run the facility as a leisure centre, with some housing.

Nigel Gibson, director of the Save TCP community interest company, said: “We looked into lodging an appeal, but it would not have changed things because of the contract signed by the city council and Catalyst.

“The council has willingly destroyed a community facility, so it is now up to Catalyst, but we will be challenging [the plans] vigorously. What would be a much better compromise and one we are talking to the developer about is for it to be a housing association partner in our suggested scheme.

“We would operate the leisure centre and Catalyst would manage the housing.”

The campaigners’ proposals, rejected by the city council’s executive board in December, included plans to refurbish existing changing rooms, the exercise studio, sauna, steam room and gym.

They also wanted to build a café, community centre and exercise studio, along with treatment rooms for health and fitness.

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The plan would have involved the city council agreeing to a “peppercorn” lease for 125 years.

But it was turned down by senior councillors, amid protests of about 50 people outside Oxford Town Hall. Councillors said the plans were not detailed enough and city council leader Bob Price said they contained “a lot of uncertainty”.

This week Mr Price said: “We are pleased there has been no legal challenge. We were confident that we had conducted the decision-making process in an entirely competent way. It is good that council taxpayers do not have to fund another legal case.”

Mr Price added that the city council expected Catalyst to submit detailed plans this summer.

The closure decision despite years of campaigning.

It was first reported that the facility could close in 2006 but the decision was officially confirmed in 2010.

The council said the leisure centre was too expensive to maintain and decided to replace it with the new Leys Pools and Leisure Centre in Blackbird Leys, which opened in January.

Campaigners last April managed to delay the Temple Cowley Pools’ site sale by registering it as an Asset of Community Value, but their bid to buy it was turned down.

Catalyst spokesman David Blackett said: “Catalyst remains committed to our proposal for the Temple Cowley site which will provide much-needed affordable homes.”