A consultation has been launched on transgender swimmers’ access to Hampstead Heath ponds, which could result in them being banned from using the pools for the gender they identify as. The Kenwood Ladies’ and Highgate Men’s ponds are gender-segregated, with trans people currently able to swim in whichever they feel most appropriate, or use the heath’s mixed-gender pond instead. The organisation’s chief executive, Maya Forstater, said the association needed to change the rules after the supreme court ruling. She said: “Women who choose to swim at the ladies’ pond rather than the mixed pond are choosing a female-only environment for a variety of personal reasons, including privacy and dignity. Announcing the consultation Chris Hayward, the chair of policy at the CLC, said: “We recognise the sensitivity surrounding this issue.