Our Campaign
STOP THE STADIUM - KEEP THE GAP GREEN
On 9 April 2026 Leigh Day, acting for Friends of Stratfield Brake, filed a claim for a judicial review of Cherwell District Council's decision to grant planning permission for Oxford United's new stadium.
We are extremely grateful to everyone who has helped us get to this point, especially in raising £50,000 to fund the legal challenge. We know that many local residents share our deep concern over this proposal which we believe would be massively detrimental to communities in Kidlington and North Oxford. It is also hugely environmentally damaging and part of our claim relates to the impact on the woodland which Natural England has said 'could be ancient woodland'. We see no meaningful benefits for the local area but plenty of disadvantages from road closures and parking issues etc. The Section 106 agreement which Oxford United has hailed as a benefit to the local community includes very little for local residents. The proposed additional infrastructure is only required in order to cope with a regular massive influx of people within a short timeframe.
More detail about the judicial review process can be found on our Legal Challenge FAQ page.
The points below demonstrate some of the many reasons why we need to stop the stadium. In our opinion, many aspects of the stadium planning application are highly unsatisfactory. However, councils have a lot of leeway in terms of exercising their judgement: if a council can demonstrate that it has considered an issue, even if its decision seems to us to be obviously wrong, the courts will not interfere. Our legal challenge must therefore be based on point(s) of law and will not include all of the points below. For more information on the grounds please see our Legal FAQ.
Concerns about impact on the local area:
- Closure of Oxford Road (A4165) on match days and other large events
-
Regular traffic chaos on the local and wider road network
-
Serious parking issues in Kidlington and North Oxford
-
Controlled parking zones with annual fees for residents
-
Limited space in Park & Rides for shoppers on match days
-
OUFC has made no meaningful commitments to benefit the local community
Concerns about impact on the environment:
-
The Triangle is exceptionally biodiverse
-
It is the last bit of the Kidlington Gap not yet designated for development
-
The protected woodland adjacent to the site, which experts believe is ancient woodland, would be damaged by the development
-
The lack of political will to secure the Kassam Stadium as an ongoing home for OUFC does not justify a new stadium on the Green Belt