Coventry Brandon Stadium housing plan refusal to be reviewed

Plans for homes on the derelict stadium were turned down in November 2022

A decision to stop a speedway stadium becoming a housing development is to be be appealed at a planning inquiry.

Rugby councillors refused planning permission in November for 124 homes on the Brandon Stadium site; formerly home of the Coventry Bees.

Brandon Estates then launched a bid to challenge the decision on the Rugby Road stadium, located between Binley Woods and Brandon.

The inquiry is set to start on 19 September.

The Bees stopped racing at the site, which is currently derelict, in 2016 after failing to reach a deal to compete there.

The application, refused by Rugby Borough Council, had been recommended for approval and featured a football pitch and clubhouse as well as the homes.

At its peak, thousands of fans gathered at the stadium to watch the Coventry Bees

Campaign group Save Coventry Speedway and Stox, which has led the fight against redevelopment, said there was a buyer waiting in the wings to revive the stadium.

It was expecting to "formally participate in the appeal process", it said in a statement.

"We can assure everyone that we will be working to ensure that the inspectorate is provided with all the facts required such that the decision taken by the members of the planning committee at Rugby Borough Council, and supported by an overwhelming majority of the general public, is upheld on appeal," it added.

Councillor Tony Gillias told BBC CWR the planned homes were "not wanted".

"The land has been lying redundant now since the sports were evicted in 2016 and the communities are saying to me 'we want it back'."