MORE than 1,000 people have signed a petition to keep Oxford’s Temple Cowley Pools open, but their efforts appear to have been made in vain.

Oxford City Council plans to shut the swimming pool and fitness centre and sell the site to help pay for a new pool at Blackbird Leys Leisure Centre, which could cost as much as £8m.

Councillors have agreed in principle to close the Temple Cowley site, but on Wednesday the petition will be presented to the council’s scrutiny committee, which will be urged not to ignore the strength of public feeling over the move.

However, the man in charge of overseeing the project said although closing Temple Cowley Pools would be unpopular, he “had a job to do”.

Bob Timbs, the council’s executive member for leisure and sport, said: “I will always listen to people but, at the end of the day, financially, the council can’t fund Temple Cowley any longer.

“We have had people shivering because the water is so cold in the baby pool.

“We’re trying to rectify the situation but because the plumbing system is so out of date, it would cost thousands to sort out.

“The new Blackbird Leys pool would be 25 metres long, with eight lanes and a separate children’s and disabled pool with a movable floor. That’s the future.

“I have got a job to do. It will upset a lot of people, but I have to accept that.”

Temple Cowley Pools are used by about 150,000 visitors a year.

Papers circulated last month revealed that Temple Cowley Pools and Blackbird Leys Pool, which the council also plans to shut, require at least £2.6m of repairs.

The council plans to wait until the new pool is ready before closing Temple Cowley Pools.

The council’s Green group opposes the closure plans and has vowed to make the decision an election issue in May.

Petition organiser Jane Alexander, 53, of Dean Road, Headington, said: “I chose my house specifically because it was near Temple Cowley Pool, it was that important to me. Question one was ‘is it south-facing?’. Question two was ‘is it near a pool?’ “There has been a pool on the site since 1839 and I will fight tooth and nail to keep it open.

“If it closed, I would have to take the bus to Blackbird Leys, which would probably take an hour.

“I don’t want it moving outside the ring road and I believe there are plenty of other people who think like me.”