Banbury Woodgreen Pool Campaign

• Banbury’s Open Air Pool at Woodgreen has been closed since 2002 as a result of managerial and technical failures.
• It is a 50 X 18 metres pool and it is still closed.
• Its future has become the subject of intense local debate.
• A battle is taking place between the community who wish it to be re-opened and its local councils who are fearful of the running costs.

In March 2005, Ian Davies, Cherwell District Council Head of Leisure Services, reported to his councillors on the progress of its sports centre modernisation plans. (Community Select Committee 29 March 2005 doc) In short it recommended spending £10million on three leisure centres across the district –at Kidlington, Bicester and at Spiceball Leisure Centre in Banbury which the report said were ‘affordable,’ to use council speak, but provided no funds for the refurbishment of the open air pool or its neighbourhood leisure centre. It refreshed the executive  committee’s memory that in recent years the costs of the open air pool had been high risk, the management a failure, the asset a burden. So, the paper argued, let’s put the future of the pool on hold, maybe return to the problem later and in the meantime do nothing. It might be he reported that  that an alternative use of the land would be  a more acceptable solution  That unspoken alternative, knowing Cherwell's fatal attraction for housing might be to sell the site to developers. .

This to the many thousands of local pool lovers was a red rag to a bull. Quite unacceptable. The open Air Pool Support Group, a large informal body of swimmers and their families who had enjoyed and supported the pool year in year out since it was opened. They had raied money for special equipment, organised events, barbeques, provided widespread publicity and of course swam regularly during the season. 

So in 2005 the group reacted strongly to the threat of permanent closure and mounted a vigorous local campaign to secure a Council change of heart. Since March 2005, a wide cross-section of the community has insisted that the Woodgreen Open Air Pool, as it is known locally, remain high on the agenda of local government discussion. For more details read the Background section of this website.

We immediately researched and wrote a booklet setting out the case for re-opening our pool and  provided estimates from expert pool engineers of what it might cost. – a fraction of what was planned to be spent on the three chosen centres. We argued that the big pool, the only 50 metre pool in Oxfordshire was a necessary amenity in this day and age. We argued that it was a quite different experience from swimming in a cramped indoor pool. We pointed to public health, hotter summers because of climate change, training potential for young athletes and for water sports, such as canoeing and triathlon evens, a local opportunity for holiday activities for the young ,safe fun for toddlers in the paddle pool, fresh maybe sunny surroundings, special events and parties. We were  increasingly aware of similar campaigns around the country. The time had come to share our experiences with others through this new web site and to hear what common problems we all had. We called the booklet 'Hands Up for a New Beginning' .To read it click on the thumbnail pix to your right.

We edited a family film taken during the heyday of Woodgreen. Click on the photo below. (6mb) Click on the photo below.

Current News :

Played in Britain is a collaboration between English Heritage and Malavan Media, a research, publishing and events consultancy based in London. On March 16^th this year they organised a one day conference on the future of Britain’s lidos and open air swimming pools. Derrick Knight on behalf of the Banbury Pool Campaign attended and took part.  

His short report can be found on the background page.

March 16th 2006. Conference in City of London
Reviving Lidos – the future of Britain’s lidos and open air swimming pools, organised by Played in Britain and Pollard, Thomas, Edwards architects.