Morrells defeated again

The climax to a highly significant week was reached today with the news that Morrells’ appeal against the lifting of their injunction has been overturned by the High Court. Morrells were trying to use a 1963 covenant granted to Ind Coope prohibiting sales of alcohol within a half mile radius of the Blackbird pub on Blackbird Leys. However the judges agreed with Oxford United that the covenant wasn’t meant to apply to the new stadium and leisure development and so a second major obstacle in a week has been eliminated.

Although the judges refused Morrells leave to appeal to the House of Lords it is possible that a written application could be submitted, as long as it is within 28 days. For this reason FOUL are insisting that their call to boycott Morrells outlets should continue until this threat has passed.

The two remaining obstacles that are known about are the caution sought by Les Wells concerning an alleged right of way across the stadium site and the settlement between Oxford City Council and Thames Water over the value of the stadium land. The former is not really an issue as Firoz Kassam has stated that he will recommence building work even if this remains unresolved in the short-term, although the City Council still has yet to serve the papers to bring this to court. Meanwhile Kassam has announced that he is meeting with Barr Construction next week to discuss a date for restarting construction at the Minchery Farm.

The Thames Water issue is also firmly within the grasp of the City Council to settle speedily as the sum to be paid (£500,000) has already been agreed. Two things are delaying the payment: one is the financial situation of the City Council, which is virtually broke, and the other is the expressed desire of the Lib-Dems to appeal against the court decision to grant Thames Water compensation. This is because they see this as a potential landmark ruling about the right of a Local Authority to lift covenants they had imposed. However the Labour Party is opposed to pursuing this appeal and so it depends on which way the Green Party, holding the balance of power, decides to vote. A great opportunity for a once marginal party to give itself some credibility and kudos.

Television news

Good news for Oxfordshire is the announcement that in Autumn the BBC is launching a new TV news and sport service for Oxfordshire, currently suffering from the London-centric News South East, with bulletins of ten minutes after the 6 O’Clock News and three minutes after the 9 O’Clock News. Oxfordshire will be the first county to get its own BBC TV News show, and it should mean a much higher profile around the county for United.