
Despite the imminent stadium planning decision date of 31 July, Natural England has now confirmed that the woodland which borders the Triangle should be categorised as ‘Ancient Woodland’. Ancient Woodland has a specific meaning for planning purposes: it is considered to be ‘an irreplaceable habitat’ and detailed Government guidance directs that planning permission should be refused if it would result in ‘the loss or deterioration of Ancient Woodland’ unless there are ‘wholly exceptional reasons’, such as nationally significant infrastructure projects, which a stadium and hotel is not.
The image below shows the area designated as Ancient Woodland bordered in yellow. It includes woodland on both sides of Frieze Way. The "Triangle" site is bordered in pink.

Compensation measures such as off-site mitigation used for other types of biodiversity are not considered appropriate for Ancient Woodland because it takes hundreds of years to establish and can’t simply be replaced elsewhere.
Planning guidance requires that proposals close to Ancient Woodland must have a buffer zone of at least 15 metres from the boundary of the woodland to avoid root damage. But if other impacts are likely to extend beyond this distance, the proposal is likely to need a larger buffer zone. There are strong arguments for a larger buffer zone in this case due to the significant lighting, noise, footfall etc that would inevitably be associated with the stadium and other commercial development. A small compact site such as the Triangle designed to attract 16,000 football fans, and a hotel designed for conferencing and events, arguably threatens the very existence of the neighbouring Ancient Woodland to the point of destruction, and calls into question the suitability of this highly-ecologically valuable site. It is regrettable that Oxfordshire County Council failed to conduct more robust environmental due diligence before signing away the Triangle for commercial development.
Where buffer zones do exist in OUFC’s current plans they certainly don’t align with Natural England’s recommendation that they should consist of semi-natural habitat such as woodland or a mix of scrub, grassland, heathland and wetland.
We believe that Natural England’s decision means the stadium proposal cannot go ahead in its current form. Not only do plans fail to provide for the 15 metre buffer zone, but the nature of the development would arguably lead to the destruction of the Ancient Woodland.
How ironic that OUFC's so-called proposed 'eco stadium' threatens the existence of Ancient Woodland. Promises to enhance the ecological value of surrounding land sound rather meaningless given that we understand the club is now in the process of challenging Natural England's assessment, presumably, in order to allow a smoother passage for their plans. Nonetheless, our understanding is that there is strong scientific data to support Natural England’s decision.
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