A group of early morning swimmers will today be handing over a petition of more than one hundred signatures that they

have recently collected to keep Temple Cowley Pool open. "The council is threatening to either close the pool or

to do away with separate female and male changing rooms - we want to keep the women-only changing area and

showers," commented Jane Alexander, who has been collecting the signatures. "98% of people I have spoken to support this

petition - this is in stark contrast to the Council Leisure committee, who claim that surveys have shown that people

prefer their plans. Temple Cowley pool users do not know of anyone who has taken part in such surveys."


"The alternative to closure, a move to "village" unisex changing areas, would mean many women and their families not

being able to use the pool at all because of religious or other reasons. Many regular users of the pool come to Temple

Cowley because it has separate changing facilities for men and women, and this new arrangement will only attract

further abuse by teenagers, like that recently witnessed during the Easter period."


"This is the only 25m pool in the city," added Jane, "that has the facilities for putting on swimming galas, and the

pool's closure will severely affect any contribution Oxfordshire can make to the 2012 London Olympics."