Hopes for future of racing at Oxford Stadium after Local Plan is approved

Oxford City Council agreed its Local Plan 2036 in May, with a special caveat added in to protect the stadium on Sandy Lane in Cowley.

A councillor has now said he hopes the stadium's owner will bring it back into use or sell it to someone who will, while campaigners have said they are more hopeful for its future.

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The council carried out a study last year which concluded that Greyhound racing and Motorcycle Speedway could both be brought back to the stadium and turn a profit.

Because of this, anyone who wants to make a planning application for the site now has to try to revive the two sports at the site, though they would be allowed to build homes over one of the car parks to help make money.

The Local Plan adds that, if racing cannot be returned to the site and made profitable, then it can be knocked down to make way for homes.

Robert Peasley, a campaigner for the group Save Oxford Stadium said that a ‘waiting game’ had begun to see whether the current owner, Galliard Homes, would step up and take the council’s new rules on board, or whether the company would sell it to someone else.

He said he understood that several people had already come forward who were interested in buying the site from Galliard.

Oxford Stadium in 2019. Picture: Ed Nix

When the Local Plan was discussed at a series of public meetings in December last year, representatives of Galliard gave evidence to a Government planning inspector suggesting that the stadium could not be successful if racing returned.

They suggested that Galliard’s plan to build homes at the site would be preferable instead, but the inspector disagreed.

Mr Peasley added: “The Local Plan is in place until 2036, that is a long time. That may be too long for the owners, in which case maybe they are interested in selling it as a stadium.

“Hopefully it could go forward that way, that is what we are hoping, and then we could see a return of Speedway.”

Alex Hollingsworth, the city council’s cabinet member for planning and housing delivery, said: “Now that the Local Plan has been adopted, we would hope and expect the landowner to bring forward the development of this site in accordance with the Local Plan.

“If a proposal of this nature is not forthcoming from the landowner within a timely period, then we will look to take a facilitating role to bring the site forward for development. To do this, we would seek a development partner – with a viable business plan – to try to acquire the stadium by agreement.”

Speedway fans who attended the Local Plan hearings last year

Mr Hollingsworth added that the council was willing to use a compulsory purchase order to buy the stadium from Galliard Homes, but ‘only in the last resort’.

He said: “The Local Plan was only adopted last month so it is still early days, but we would of course encourage any developers that are interested in acquiring the site to speak to the current landowner.”

It is understood that several developers are interested in buying the stadium.

One of them is businessman Nick Budimir, who attended the Local Plan hearings last year and held public meetings to hear views from the Save Oxford Stadium campaign group.

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Motorcycle Speedway was last hosted at the stadium in 2008, and Greyhound racing ended in 2013.

The stadium has also hosted karting and dance classes, as well as other tenants in recent years.

Speedway uses specialist motorbikes which are lightweight, have no brakes, and race on an oval-shaped dirt track in short, fast races.

Oxford’s team the Cheetahs have had no official home after the 2008 season, but earlier this month, old members of the team held a ‘virtual derby’ against their rivals the Swindon Robins, where archive races between the teams were selected and a winner was decided.

Galliard Homes declined to comment.