Sir – I write in response to Ian Smith’s letter (July 19).

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so as a member of the Save Temple Cowley Pools Campaign I must say we are indeed flattered that Mr Smith has taken to writing letters to the paper, starting an online petition and even organising photoshoots for his swimming club, as part of his campaign on behalf of the “silent majority” to close Temple Cowley Pools.

If Mr Smith is going to take to the streets, tell people the truth about how the council wants to spend over £13m on what would be only a 25m swimming pool, when £3m would refurbish and improve the existing facilities, and get over 12,000 signatures, then that would indeed demonstrate a large amount of public support. Unfortunately, however much support Mr Smith gets is irrelevant if there is no evidence behind it.

In contrast, the Save Temple Cowley Pools Campaign has both support and evidence on its side. The real story can be found on our website at: http://tiny.cc/savetcpblog .

The City of Oxford Swimming Club is looking after its own interests and no one can complain at that but the club already has a home and a competition pool — in Temple Cowley — a facility that not only has the only public diving pool in Oxford but also enables thousands of people of all ages and sporting abilities the opportunity to maintain their health, fitness and quality of life in the heart of their community.

Does Mr Smith really want to deny thousands of ordinary people their right to health?

Nigel Gibson , Save Temple Cowley Pools Campaign