Public shows strong support for existing transgender access to Hampstead ponds

In a victory for those fighting for transgender rights, a large majority of respondents to a consultation want to keep existing arrangements for access to single-sex ponds on Britain’s beloved Hampstead Heath.

Eighty-six percent of respondents to the consultation carried out by City of London Corporation, the municipal body which operates the Kenwood Ladies’ Pond, Highgate Men’s Pond and Hampstead Mixed Pond, felt that the ponds should remain trans inclusive spaces, allowing trans men and women to use the pond of their choice. The two-month consultation opened in September and its results were published on January 29. It received more than 38,000 responses.

Transgender access has been a hot topic following a Supreme Court ruling in Britain, brought by campaigning group For Women Scotland versus The Scottish Ministers.

The court ruled in April 2025 that the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 refer only to a biological woman and to biological sex at birth, a ruling which has led to confusion about transgender access, for instance to single-sex toilets.

The ponds are popular with swimmers from Hampstead, an area known for both wealth and non-conformity, and beyond. Eighty-four percent of respondents to the survey had swum at the ponds, and 74 percent lived in London, City of London Corporation said in a press statement.

City of London Corporation also received feedback from pond users through a series of independently-run focus groups. These also showed that retaining current trans-inclusive arrangements received broadest support, the Corporation said in the statement to the press.

City of London Corporation has stated that the consultation findings will be presented to Corporation committees, which will consider them alongside legal duties, equality impact assessments, safeguarding responsibilities and operational considerations.

In addition, it reaffirmed that current admissions rules will remain in place until a final decision is reached regarding future access.

“The volume and tone of responses we received demonstrate very clearly just how much the ponds are valued as calm, safe, welcoming community spaces for all to enjoy,” City of London Corporation Policy Chairman Chris Hayward said in the statement.

“While we’ve been clear that the consultation was not a referendum, carefully reviewing the findings from it will form an important part of our wider decision-making process, which we will communicate clearly to the public in the months ahead. It’s important that we take the time to ensure future access arrangements are fair, lawful, evidence-based and, crucially, respectful to those who use the swimming ponds.”

“We are delighted with the consultation results,” Steph Richards, Chief Executive of TransLucent, which campaigns for transgender rights, told The Sentinel.

“London is a very inclusive city. If anywhere is going to take this view, it’s going to be London. It’s a global city and we are all the richer for it.”

One respondent to the consultation, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue, told The Sentinel that the results were “really heartening.”

However, consultation respondent Venice Allan told The Sentinel that she was “furious…that the Corporation of the City of London is continuing to welcome men (to the Kenwood Ladies’ Pond) who claim to be women or non-binary..”

“As the Supreme Court ruled last April, women are female and no internal feeling or gender recognition certificate can change that fact.”

Campaigning group Sex Matters, which opposes the current ponds access policy, separately lost a legal bid on January 29 for permission to initiate a judicial review into the existing arrangements.

“The fight for women’s safety, privacy and dignity in single-sex spaces will continue,” Sex Matters CEO Maya Forstater said in a press statement. 

“Just because this particular claim was ruled out on procedural grounds does not give any service provider the green light to allow trans-identifying males into female facilities.”