County Council want to know if they should have any other objectives when negotiating with OUFC over a long lease
Please join with KDW in asking them to add this Objective:
That any proposal for Stratfield Brake will comply fully with
the recently adopted Cherwell local plan.
Another BIG concern you might want to mention is how this
proposal will be financed and managed
The land at Stratfield Brake is in public ownership. The only way this proposal is likely to go ahead is if the County
give away almost all of the massive potential development value of the land. How can they be sure the promised benefits will outweigh this loss? Should the County allow overseas developers to
benefit from the disposal of publicly owned land?
OUFC’s potential overseas backers will expect to profit from their investment. The financial survival of OUFC’s ‘own’
stadium will rely on extensive commercial development (retail, hotel, conference facilities etc) and very high footfall to maximise turnover all year round. It could fail - there are many
directly competing developments already planned for this area. The Council should be cautious of relying on overseas investment. Personal guarantees from overseas residents are rarely
enforceable. The County – and Cherwell might be exposed to further costs if things go wrong for OUFC, on or off the pitch.
Given the massive costs – and long lead time to deliver a new stadium complex – why not invest more effort into sorting out the problems at the current stadium? Refurbishing it and putting it
onto a better financial footing seems a much more sensible and sustainable (environmentally and financially) option. Oxford City Council can - and should - do more to help solve OUFC’s current
lease problems. The County Council should not consider sacrificing one of Kidlington’s few remaining accessible areas of green space to provide a ‘quick fix’ to OUFC’s problems. It should NOT
agree to be rushed into a decision.