Cherwell District Council has written to Ridge (OUFC's agents) setting out six pages of additional planning information that OUFC must provide. See full letter
here.
The letter reads as if the planning application is a catalogue of errors, omissions and outstanding issues. Some of these may be resolved fairly quickly, but there are a number of significant
matters that the club will find challenging to address. This is simply because of the constraints of the Triangle which is, always has been, and will remain, an unsuitable site for a stadium with
additional facilities such as a hotel.
It appears that the scope of the traffic modelling has not yet been agreed (page 3) and the letter lists other issues under headings of traffic/transport, public health, Network Rail, ecology,
and Thames Valley Police. It remains unclear how OUFC can solve many of these e.g. hostile vehicle mitigation and emergency evacuation at full capacity. Moreover the additional ecology work
required is inevitably going to lead to further delay.
OUFC has commented "it is a completely normal process with a large scale development for the applicant to work closely with key stakeholders on developing the detail after planning has been
submitted...". We disagree: this planning application was always deficient and OUFC continues to mislead its fans regarding the lack of progress on planning. As it stands, OUFC are currently a
long way from even having their application fully considered.
Dr Judith Webb's reports on the ecology of the Triangle have been recognised by Cherwell District Council and we would like to express our gratitude for her outstanding
work.