This is a plea to Oxford City Council not to build the proposed new city pool at the Blackbird Leys Leisure Centre site.

Please learn from the mistakes of the past – such as the health centre, where there is hardly any parking and congestion because there is only one narrow road leading to it.

When schools visit the old pool, their coaches park on the footpath.

Would the leisure centre’s car park be big enough to cope with all this extra traffic, I don’t think so!

The city says that it would be used for competitions, swimming clubs, schools and, lastly, the general public.

That’s quite a lot of organisations, so why not build it on the vast land available in Grenoble Road, (the Watlington Road end).

There is plenty of room for easily accessible parking – meaning cars and coaches can park without causing extreme congestion on estate roads – which are are crumbling away through excessive vehicle use.

I would also ask the city council to be brave and rethink its refusal to install flumes and slides.

This is what would give the pool some ‘oomph’ and make it well-used by youngsters.

I would also ask them to reject the idea of an adjustable floor.

This would just be asking for trouble with maintenance.

Can it really guarantee that it won’t spend more time out of use than in use?

Brian Lester, Pegasus Road, Blackbird Leys, Oxford