FAN’s VIEW 22/23 – No.30

SUPPORT OUR STADIUM / SECURE OUR FUTURE

I would be surprised if any Oxford United fan over the age of about ten is not now aware that the club will become homeless in 2026 unless a site is found for a new stadium, planning permission has been granted, all the red tape has been negotiated, hoops jumped through and structures erected.

At this late stage no site has yet been agreed upon so we’ve not even got out of the starting blocks.

Again, as everyone should know, as they have been reminded time and time again by the Football club and OxVox there is the most important of Oxfordshire County Council Cabinet meetings taking place this coming Tuesday at 14:00.

The club and OxVox have repeatedly asked that fans get in touch with their elected Councillors and the Cabinet to express their views in support, if that is indeed their view which I suspect is so in the vast majority of cases. I know from my days on the FOUL Committee that at times people who talk a good game regarding support for something have to be gently nudged or more into doing something more concrete. So please, if you have not yet contacted the council or signed the OxVox petition don’t leave it to others and assume it will all just come good.

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Here is the list of Cabinet members who will be making the decision.

Liz Leffman                         Leader of the Council

Liz Brighouse OBE            Deputy Leader of the Council

Glynis Phillips                     Cabinet Member for Corporate Services

Dr Pete Sudbury               Cabinet Member for Climate Change Delivery &

Environment

Tim Bearder                       Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care

Duncan Enright                 Cabinet Member for Travel & Development Strategy

Calum Miller                       Cabinet Member for Finance

Jenny Hannaby                                 Cabinet Member for Community Services and Safety

Mark Lygo                           Cabinet Member for Public Health & Equality

Andrew Gant                     Cabinet Member for Highway Management

And their email addresses:

liz.leffman@oxfordshire.gov.uk,

liz.brighouse@oxfordshire.gov.uk,

glynis.phillips@oxfordshire.gov.uk,

pete.sudbury@oxfordshire.gov.uk,

tim.bearder@oxfordshire.gov.uk,

duncan.enright@oxfordshire.gov.uk,

calum.miller@oxfordshire.gov.uk,

jenny.hannaby@oxfordshire.gov.uk,

mark.lygo@oxfordshire.gov.uk,

andrew.gant@oxfordshire.gov.uk

Item 6. Proposal from Oxford United Football Club to Oxfordshire County Council as Landowner

Cabinet Member: Finance

Forward Plan Ref: 2022/236

Contact: Claire Taylor, Corporate Director Customers, Organisational Development and

Resources, claire.taylor@oxfordshire.gov.uk

Report by Corporate Director Customers, Organisational Development and Resources

A report setting out the options regarding the potential leasing of county council land to

OUFC for the purposes of a new stadium.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to

(a) Authorise Officers to enter into negotiations regarding Heads of Terms with Oxford United Football Club (OUFC) to agree the commercial terms on which Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) would lease land to the east of Frieze Way /south of Kidlington roundabout (known as the ‘triangle’) to OUFC for the development of a new football stadium, subject to further Cabinet approval of detailed plans and undertakings and to planning permission.

(b) Emphasise that Heads of Terms are non-binding and that any final agreement to lease or dispose of land to OUFC for the purposes of a stadium will be a Cabinet decision, published on the Forward Plan of Business.

(c) Instruct officers to ensure that, prior to any recommendation to Cabinet regarding entering into a contractual or legal agreement with OUFC, sufficient information and undertakings have been received from OUFC to ensure that the objectives set out in (2a) below will be met.

(d) Instruct officers to identify and mitigate medium and long-term financial risks and liabilities associated with any final agreement with OUFC to lease or dispose of the land.

(e) Instruct officers to provide regular updates on progress to the Cabinet Member for Property and, as appropriate, Cabinet as a whole, and to add these Cabinet updates to the Cabinet’s Forward Plan of Business to enable transparency and public scrutiny / engagement.

(f) Instruct officers to identify further opportunities for engagement with a broad range of stakeholders as proposals for a scheme are developed. This should include an engagement strategy from OUFC to demonstrate how they will take into account stakeholder and community views as the scheme promoter.

If the Cabinet decides to proceed it is RECOMMENDED that the Cabinet requires:

a) Officers to ensure that any agreements with OUFC are consistent with the County Council’s strategic priorities, by achieving the following objectives for the use of the OCC’s land:

 maintain a green barrier between Oxford and Kidlington

 improve access to nature and green spaces

 enhance facilities for local sports groups and on-going financial support

 significantly improve the infrastructure connectivity in this location, improving public transport to reduce the need for car travel in so far as possible, and to improve sustainable transport through increased walking, cycling and rail use

 develop local employment opportunities in Oxfordshire

 increase education and innovation through the provision of a sports centre of excellence and facilities linked to elite sport, community sport, health and wellbeing

 support the County Council’s net zero carbon emissions pledge through highly sustainable development.

So there you have it.

There’s a live link to the meeting via Microsoft teams: video link https://oxon.cc/Cabinet24012023

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On December 10^th our game against Barnsley was called off so I didn’t produce a Fan’s View on that occasion. I had however written about three hundred words under the heading “Stratfield broken” which never saw the light of day at that time.

In it I reference FOUL, Minchery Farm, Robin Herd/Keith Cox, and the challenge in grasping all the facts and complexities even though as a committee member I was closer to it all than the average supporter. I said this time around, being far removed, I could just guess what’s happening in smoke filled rooms (sorry, I don’t know what a more modern version of this is which just shows how out of touch I am) and what interested parties, stake-holders and antis are up to. I also said I had massive admiration for what Paul Peros and the other committee members at OxVox are doing. I suspect many hours spent on this and possibly sleepless nights too.

Like many other supporters I contacted the Cabinet in early December urging them to agree “in writing to lease the land at Stratfield Brake to Oxford United without further delay so that a formal planning application can then be made”.

A day later this was the reply, “A site at Stratfield Brake in Kidlington had initially been proposed by the club, but it was recognised there were considerable challenges associated with it. Officers have now identified another potential location between Oxford and Kidlington and are discussing its suitability with the club. The alternative site is located south of Kidlington roundabout and east of Frieze Way.”

This poses a few questions.

What are those considerable challenges? I think we have the right to know. There has been talk that the land has been leased to Kidlington Parish Council on a 99 year lease with no break clause. If that is the case then why on earth has the focus been on Stratfield Brake for about a year?  Who was responsible for signing the land over with no break clause?

Listening to Niall McWilliams on Radio Oxford it is clear “the Triangle” does not offer quite the same opportunities for the local community and the football club as Stratfield Brake.

Interestingly a few days ago the EFL published their report “Measuring the Impact of EFL Clubs in the Community.” It is a lengthy but informative document. It shows that EFL Clubs and their Club Community Organisations (CCOs) generated more than £865m of social value to towns and cities across the country through ground-breaking community programmes during the 2021/22 season. It represents the estimated savings to public spending and other forms of social value that Clubs and CCOs have delivered in areas including physical health, mental wellbeing, education and employment.

OUFC do some really good work in the community as it is but just think what they could bring to the party if allowed to do so.

Watch this space.