CAMPAIGNERS who fought for more than a decade to save a beloved swimming pool in Cowley now have their sights set on a new site to revive the facility.

The Save Temple Cowley Pools group has officially relaunched as the New Temple Cowley Pools and Fitness Centre, with hopes of building on a space currently used as depot for the city council at Marsh Road.

Nigel Gibson, who has been involved in the campaign since its early days, said:

"It has always been in our minds that if we weren't able to take over the Temple Road building that we'd find somewhere else.

“We decided to rebrand as obviously the pool is no longer able to be saved in its original site.”

The swimming pool, which closed in 2015, was the subject of a long battle by residents trying to save and resurrect the pool facilities the city council announced it would be shutting the in favour of a new £9.23m leisure centre in Blackbird Leys.

The fight went all the way to the High Court, but a bid to get the decision reviewed was thrown out by a judge in 2012. Protesters argued the council had not made the correct decision in selling the site for housing.

Councillors ultimately voted to approve plans for 48 homes on the Temple Road plot last year and developer Catalyst started work on the site this summer.

Judith Harley, who is another long-serving member of Save Temple Cowley Pools as well as Old Temple Cowley Residents’ Association said she the depot was an 'ideal location' and wanted it to be used for the community.

The city council currently has permission for five years for a temporary expansion at the site and campaigners are proposing using that time to look into funding for a new leisure facility.

She said: "Many residents were not happy that the original application for expansion at the Marsh Road depot was approved last year and we will be doing our best to ensure it remains temporary."

Campaigners say they want to work with the city authority and other partners to look at how to fund the new centre through a combination of crowdfunding and grants.

Councillor Nigel Chapman, executive board member for customer focused services, however, cast doubt on the viability of Marsh Road as a possible location, saying: “We have no plans for a leisure centre on this site. Oxford Direct Services has about 300 members of staff based at the long-standing Marsh Road Depot, including street cleaning, residential and business waste collection, MOT and vehicle services, and highways departments.This is Oxford Direct Services main operations centre: all Oxford’s waste collection lorries, street cleaning vehicles, spare bins and de-icing salt stockpiles are based at the depot.”