New stadium recommended for council approval.
Council planners have recommended approval for Oxford United’s proposed new stadium.
Cherwell District Council’s planning report stated that 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, described it as a “significant and positive step”.
The report will be discussed by the council’s planning committee on August 14. The five-hectare (12-acre) site is situated south of the Kidlington roundabout, west of Banbury Road, east of Frieze Way, and near Oxford Parkway Station.
The proposed development could include a 180-bed hotel, restaurant, conference centre, and community plaza.
The U’s have repeatedly warned that if the Triangle site is not approved by Cherwell District Council, they will 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 council planning report stated that the development would “cause significant landscape and visual harm,” but that it was justified by “very special circumstances” on green belt land.
It detailed objections from local campaigners who claimed the stadium would cause “irreversible damage to a site of high local ecological significance and value.” However, planners agreed with the club that it was the only available, suitable location in Oxford or nearby.
The council received approximately 4,900 responses from the public regarding the application.
A decision on the proposed stadium was postponed until 31 July, when nearby woodland was designated as ancient.
However, Natural England concluded that the woodland at Stratfield Brake was not ancient because it was not found on Oxfordshire maps dating from the 18th and 19th centuries.
If the planning committee agrees with the report’s recommendations, the application will be referred to the Secretary of State, as is standard procedure for such large-scale applications.
Mr Clarke stated, “This is a significant and positive step towards our goal of creating a world-class venue that will secure 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.”
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