Excerpt:
There's nothing more Kiwi than a dip in the pool and Porirua's Muslim women want to jump right in.
Permanent, women-only swimming sessions have been floated in a submission to the city's council by members of the Islamic community keen to hit the water.
It's a way of embracing the New Zealand lifestyle while adhering to religious requirements that prevent men seeing their bodies, Esra Qatarneh said.
"It's for all women as well, any woman who is shy in her swimming costume in front of men."
Cannons Creek Pool had held women-only sessions in the past two years but there had not been a big take-up and they had stopped over winter, Porirua City Council recreation manager Sue Chapman said.