New stadium recommended for council approval

Oxford United's proposed new stadium has been recommended for approval by council planners.

Cherwell District Council's planning report said there were "very special circumstances" to justify building a new purpose-built 16,000-seater ground on land known as the Triangle, near Kidlington

Jonathon Clarke, the Championship club's development director, said it was a "significant and positive step".

The report will be discussed by the council's planning committee on 14 August.

The five-hectare (12-acre) site is located south of Kidlington roundabout, west of Banbury Road, east of Frieze Way and near Oxford Parkway Station.

The proposed complex could include a 180-bed hotel, restaurant, conference centre and community plaza.

The U's have repeatedly warned that if the Triangle site was not approved by Cherwell District Council then it would have no home stadium by June 2027.

It had previously agreed with the Kassam Stadium's owner that it could play there until June 2026, but the extra year is conditional on it getting planning permission for the new ground.

The planned capacity for the stadium at the Triangle is 16,000

The council planning report said the development would "cause significant landscape and visual harm", but said there were "very special circumstances" to justify the development on green belt land.

It contained details of objections from local campaigners who claimed the stadium would cause "irreversible damage to a site which has high local ecological significance and value".

However planners agreed with the club that it was the only available, appropriate site either in Oxford or nearby.

The council received about 4,900 responses from the public about the application.

A decision over the proposed stadium was delayed from 31 July when nearby woodland was designated as ancient.

But Natural England concluded the woodland at Stratfield Brake was not ancient as it was not found on Oxfordshire maps it had studied from the 18th and 19th Centuries.

If the planning committee agrees with the recommendations of the report, the application will then to be referred to the Secretary of State – a standard procedure for such large-scale applications.

Mr Clarke said: "This is a significant and positive step towards our goal of building a world-class venue that safeguards the club's future.

"We now have confirmation of when the planning committee will meet and look forward to them hopefully endorsing the positive recommendation made by their professional officers."