OXFORD United’s intention to build a new stadium needs to get to the planning stage in order to show how it will benefit the community, the chairs of supporter groups have said.

Stratfield Brake, south of Kidlington, was initially proposed by United, with an alternative – ‘The Triangle’ – highlighted by Oxfordshire County Council officers last week.

The Triangle is located south of Kidlington roundabout, west of Banbury Road and east of Frieze Way.

The county council’s cabinet is set to make a decision on January 24, about whether to enter formal negotiations regarding leasing council-owned land at The Triangle to the U’s for the development of a new stadium.

Proposals would then be subject to the planning process, led by the local planning authority Cherwell District Council.

READ MORE: Stratfield Brake ‘hasn’t gone off the table’ say Oxford United board members

Paul Peros, chair of the independent supporter group OxVox, told this newspaper it is imperative proposals get to the planing stage.

“The Triangle is still green belt but it’s what you do with that land to make it of best use for the community,” he said.

“Whatever arguments there are, they can be raised when it gets to planning.

“Getting to planning is massively important, we can put our case sensibly to people and adjust plans if we need to.

“We’ve got a lot of people involved in the club who live in and care about the community, and want to build something which aids the community.

“We just have to get it to planning and show that to people.”

On The Triangle, Peros said: “It’s a little bit closer although Stratfield Brake is still very accessible to Oxford Parkway, and it’ll be slightly easier to put the infrastructure such as bridges in, which will benefit the whole of the Kidlington community.

“We’ve got the station there, the road links, plus pubs and businesses which we don’t have at the moment.”

United’s license agreement at the Kassam Stadium is set to run out in 2026, after which point the club could find itself homeless.

Coventry City have been embroiled in a long-running stadium saga and were given an eviction notice earlier this month, before a deal was reached to allow the club to see the season out at the CBS Arena.

“We’re in a position where we’ll have nowhere to play and for those that say groundshare, look at other clubs and the problems Coventry are having at the moment,” said Peros.

“Groundsharing is completely untenable.”

Paul Scaysbrook, chair of the Oxford United Supporters Panel, added: “Stratfield Brake with all the sub-leases was never going to be easy.

“Nobody really seemed to know about The Triangle but it seems a much easier piece of land to work with.

“It’s almost the same area – near the park and ride facilities, and the train facilities, which is what we want for a sustainable, eco-friendly way of getting to the stadium.

“It’ll be a community asset and the club has to show that as and when we move forward.

“We’re the only professional sporting facility in Oxfordshire – if we don’t get somewhere to move to, then where would we go?

“Having a stadium makes the long-term future of the club secure.”