Temple Cowley Pools: Each side has its say

A decision will be made by Oxford City Council on July 12.

The two options being examined are to demolish the existing facility and then build a new £7m swimming pool on the current site, in Temple Road, or to build a new complex next to Blackbird Leys Leisure Centre — and knock down Temple Cowley Pools once the new pool is open for business.

Previous council studies have favoured a relocation to Blackbird Leys, but the authority has commissioned a new feasibility study and says it will make its decision next month with an open mind.

But supporters have waged a four-year campaign to save Temple Cowley from demolition and argue an “eco-refurbishment” would best serve the needs of swimmers and the city.

Today, both sides state their case – for a rebuild or a refurbishment – to Oxford Mail readers.

KEEP IT, says NIGEL GIBSON, of the Save Temple Cowley Pools campaign:

CLOSING TCP would mean a huge loss to the community, as an amenity that sits alongside the library and the shopping centres as the focal point for people living at the eastern end of the Cowley Road. Many walk or cycle; it is the size we want, and the only public sauna and diving pool in Oxford. GP referrals keep many out of hospital, saving the NHS (and us taxpayers) hundreds of thousands of pounds each year.

Refurbishment is the easiest and cheapest solution, and with flair and innovation could be a source of pride throughout Oxford; we need to put right the lack of maintenance over the last 10 years, and carry out an eco-refit to reduce the carbon footprint.

Simply fitting covers over the pools when not in use reduces evaporation by 85 per cent, cuts down the heating bill, reduces the strain on the air handling system and will make inside TCP feel less like a sauna.

A ground source heat pump would be great, but the existing system doesn’t need replacing.

Put in solar heating for the water, photo-voltaic cells for electricity that can make money by feeding excess electricity into the grid, and even wind turbines.

Parts of the building fabric need renewing, but TCP has many years of life left, despite what the council would have us think.

We are told that the centre is too costly to maintain; we question the figures and the council ignores us.

But building new, even next to the existing Blackbird Leys Leisure Centre, is expensive.

An eco-refurbishment will keep TCP in the place where people want it, in Temple Cowley. Six thousand people have signed our petition. No-one wants to see it knocked down, and there is little interest elsewhere for a new pool.

For more information on the Save Temple Cowley Pool campaign, email savetcp@gmail.com, see its survey at http://tinyurl.com/tcpsurvey999 or to sign its petition, go to ipetitions.com/petition/ savetemplecowleyswimmingpool/ DITCH IT, says Tim Sadler, of Oxford City Council:

TEMPLE Cowley Pools were built in the 1930s when very different standards of design were used to meet the expectations of pool users and operators.

Major refurbishments carried out in the 1980s could only ever be expected to be putting off the day when the future of the pools was questioned.

Rising costs, falling use of the pools and looming major repairs have now forced that question.

It is possible to refurbish the pools again – albeit at questionable value for money.

However it is impossible to deal with some key issues for the site.

The most significant of these being the provision of an appropriate level of car parking for Oxford’s competition standard pool to encourage users from across the city and beyond to use the pools and enable the City of Oxford Swimming Club to stage regional galas.

Funding a refurbishment is also a significant challenge.

The proposal to build a new pool as part of the existing Blackbird Leys Leisure Centre is only affordable if the cost of borrowing the estimated £5m5-7m to build the pool is funded by year-on-year savings from combining the management of the pools and the leisure centre, closing the Temple Cowley and Blackbird Leys pools and the receipt from the sale of the land at Temple Cowley.

A refurbishment does not provide these savings and therefore offers no means of raising the capital required to carry out the works.

For more information on Oxford City Council’s leisure survey, go to the website oxford.gov.uk/leisure facilitiessurvey or call 01865 252702.