ON attending the consultation meeting in Temple Cowley about the future of pool provision in Oxford, I was dismayed by the chaotic atmosphere.

By the time the meeting opened there was standing room only for late-comers. The very lengthy presentation by the city council’s head of leisure services on the problems associated with retaining Temple Cowley pool was extended by understandably indignant interruptions.

It made it very difficult to hear what was said, sitting, as I was, near the back of the hall with many people talking at once and the presence of children occasionally crying.

This was inevitable granted the time of the meeting. Indeed many people with children would have stayed away for this reason.

I am not sure that I fully understood the four options that were presented very briefly at the end.

There was no time for a full discussion and information on the costing was not detailed.

Indeed, the results of the feasiblity study, which have not yet made public, are needed before any sensible discussion can take place.

Anne Blackman

Oxford