A public meeting will be held at Oxford Town Hall tonight (Tuesday) on the future of leisure services in the south of the city.

Being discussed will be Oxford City Council's (OCC) proposals that the public swimming pools in Blackbird Leys and Temple Cowley be closed and replaced with a new pool adjacent to the Blackbird Leys Leisure Centre. OCC says that the two existing pools are outdated and expensive to run and claims that the option of replacing Temple Cowley would be cheaper than refurbishing it. A new eight-lane pool in Blackbird Leys, together with a learner pool, would cost considerably less than either.

Nevertheless, the plan has run into opposition from the 'Save Temple Cowley Swimming Pool' residents group, which is opposing the move. Tonight's meeting will see the presentation by OCC of an options appraisal and feasibility study, followed by a Q & A session. The findings from the public consultation and feasibility work will be reported to OCC's City Executive Board in September.