Press Release from Friends of Stratfield Brake 02/08/23

• Friends of Stratfield Brake (FoSB), represented by Ricardo Gama at Leigh Day, has issued a letter before claim to Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) regarding its consultation over the potential transfer of land to Oxford United Football Club (OUFC) for a new stadium.
  
  
• The letter is a first step in the judicial review process and informs OCC that FoSB believes OCC’s consultation to be unlawful as it failed to provide sufficient information to the public regarding the proposal.
  
  
• The letter asks OCC to pause the current process and provide information which clearly explains to the public why the need has arisen for OUFC to have a new stadium, and what the Kassam Stadium will be used for if OUFC leave.

On 24 January 2023, OCC’s cabinet agreed to enter into negotiations with OUFC on outline legal and commercial terms to transfer publicly-owned Green Belt land to OUFC for the construction of a new football stadium complex. This land, located in Kidlington (east of Frieze Way and south of Kidlington roundabout), is known as ‘the Triangle’.

On 23 May 2023 OCC’s cabinet agreed to proceed with its second phase of public engagement. This took the form of a consultation by way of an online survey accessible to the general public and entitled ‘How do Oxford United’s proposals for the land known as ‘the Triangle’ impact the communities of Oxfordshire?’ The online survey, which closed on 23 July, asked respondents to assess whether the club had met the seven ‘strategic priorities’ set out by the council for the use of its land.

Prior to the consultation, FoSB raised concerns, at a face to face stakeholder meeting with OCC, and by writing directly to the cabinet member responsible, Cllr Calum Miller. As well as calling for any consultation to be done via a secure method which prioritised the local communities nearest to the Triangle, FoSB made it clear to OCC that the consultation’s background information provided by OUFC, as scheme promoter, lacked detail and failed to answer key issues which the public need to be able to understand in order to be able to make an informed response.

OCC has refused to disclose information such as OUFC’s original licence agreement which contained a right to renew until 2046. Following the termination of the original licence, and the renegotiation of a new one, the club state they will now be homeless in 2026. But information obtained by FoSB from OCC under the Freedom of Information Act indicates that it may have been the club that negotiated the current licence and that no one from OCC has even spoken to the stadium company. Key questions such as the precise origin of the proposal, the reason why OUFC is no longer able to stay at the Kassam Stadium and what the Kassam Stadium would be used for if OUFC leave, all remain unclear.

FoSB also claim that the consultation failed to provide information as to why the Triangle is the only possible alternative site if OUFC cannot remain at the Kassam Stadium. OCC has told FoSB that OUFC first approached them about a new site in Kidlington in March 2021, yet an alternative site search report commissioned by the club is dated October 2022.

FoSB also claim that the consultation failed to provide information as to why the Triangle is the only possible alternative site if OUFC cannot remain at the Kassam Stadium. OCC has told FoSB that OUFC first approached them about a new site in Kidlington in March 2021, yet an alternative site search report commissioned by the club is dated October 2022. 

• sole reliance on poor quality information from OUFC as scheme promoter with no independent objective analysis from OCC or any other stakeholder.
  
  
• operating a survey which collects responses from anyone, including non-Oxfordshire residents who will not be impacted by the proposals.
  
  
• allowing OUFC to update its website with new information as the survey was in progress.
  
  
• failure to make accessible information available to respondents in a timely manner.
  
  
• potential bias in results as a result of survey design which only asked whether OUFC has met criteria, and if not, what it needs to show to meet them.
  
  
• offering to accept responses on an individual basis after the deadline without publicising this fact.

Victoria Campbell, a founder member of FoSB said “we have asked Leigh Day to write to Oxfordshire County Council as a last resort. We did our utmost to persuade the Council to reconsider the format of the consultation before it started. The survey should have been designed to collect in a secure manner the views of those groups who could be significantly impacted by proposal major infrastructure project on their doorstep rather than an online survey which is open to all. We have seen evidence that OUFC supporters conducted an organised campaign to publicise the survey to professional football clubs across the country to boost support for the proposals in a clear attempt to influence the outcome.”

Ms Campbell was responsible for calling for a Parish Poll in Kidlington in May regarding the proposals and she commented “we saw a very strong turnout for the Parish Poll with the results clearly demonstrating that a majority of Kidlington residents are opposed to development of the Triangle for a stadium. It is shocking that the results of this secure process appear to have been disregarded by OCC. Many have told us they found OCC’s recent consultation to be confusing, difficult to answer and lacking in detail on important background information. It’s easy to see why so many believe this is a done deal and that the council is not listening to the local community”.

Suzanne McIvor, another founder member of FoSB, said “people need to be able to understand precisely why OUFC can’t stay at Kassam Stadium which was only built around 20 years ago.  Under its previous licence agreement OUFC had an option to renew until 2046:  OCC must explain precisely why OUFC has lost this option or renegotiated a licence which leaves them homeless.  We also continue to question why this Council is using Oxfordshire tax-payers money to fund a proposal which is ultimately for the financial benefit of the overseas based investors who control Oxford United and which relates to Green Belt which we were told only two years ago should remain as a green gap”. 

END