A MULTI-MILLION pound swimming pool complex looks set to be built in Blackbird Leys, it emerged last night.

The pool, costing £16.8m, will replace the complex at Temple Cowley, which would be demolished as part of the plans.

But campaigners are adamant the Temple Cowley Pools building should be refurbished and said moving to Blackbird Leys will leave thousands of city swimmers high and dry.

Oxford City Council officers have recommended the Blackbird Leys option – one of three possibilities for swimming provision in south east Oxford that will be outlined at a public meeting tonight.

The council will make the final decision in September, but deputy leader Ed Turner said Blackbird Leys was the only viable way forward.

He said: “There is a clear downside which is we lose Temple Cowley Pools. But there is an immense downside to paying money into that site to see it crumble. Five years down the line people would say we bottled a difficult decision.”

Mr Turner added the council would have to take a “deep breath” and find the cash for the project as doing nothing was not an option.

He said the huge maintenance backlog at Temple Cowley – totalling millions of pounds – was due to the council committing to a number of pools in the city, but further investment in the site would be “throwing good money after bad”.

A question mark has hung over the popular Temple Cowley pool since controversial redevelopment plans were first mooted in 2006.

The release of the detailed options study, which runs to more than 350 pages, was delayed last month when councillors wanted more information about the financial risks in a changing economic climate.

Based on its findings, officers have recommended a new complex should be built next to Blackbird Leys Leisure Centre.

But campaigners say refurbishing the existing building, in Temple Road, would best meet the needs of swimmers and represent better value for taxpayers. The council has said refurbishment would cost £24.2m, but campaigners said it could be achieved for a fraction of the price.

Campaign leader Jane Alexander, who has helped gather a petition of 7,000 signatures, said: “Our surveys show thousands of people would not be able to get to Blackbird Leys.

“Sixty per cent of users say they won’t go.

“That’s either because of time, they swim in their lunch hour or after work, or cost because it’s going to involve two buses not one.”

Ms Alexander added: “It is location, location, location.

“They can make Blackbird Leys all singing, all dancing, but it doesn’t matter if many will not be able to get there.”

Rebuilding the facility on its existing site would cost £24m, and would leave the south east of the city without a swimming pool for several months.

The council believes a new pool complex could be open by the end of 2012.

A public meeting on the options will be held tonight at Oxford Town Hall from 7pm.