MP Calum Miller says 'more uncertainty is in no-one's interests' after Oxford United stadium plans delay
The local MP for Oxford United’s planned new stadium has spoken out after the secretary of state was given more time to decide whether to call in the decision
The local MP for Oxford United’s planned new stadium has spoken out after the secretary of state was given more time to decide whether to call in the decision.
The club want to build the stadium at The Triangle site near Kidlington, which will seat 16,000 people, as well as a 180-bed hotel and other facilities.
Its lease on its current home at the Kassam Stadium is due to run out in a few years’ time.
The plans were given planning permission by Cherwell District Council last month, and the application was referred to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government for sign off.
The minister initially gets 21 days to decide whether or not to ‘call in’ the application for further reconsideration.
But on September 11 the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government issued a ‘holding direction’ to allow the secretary of state more time to decide whether to call it in.
Steve Reed MP became the new secretary of state last week after Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner resigned earlier this month.
Calum Miller, MP for Bicester and Woodstock which covers to area where the stadium will be, previously wrote to the secretary of state asking for a speedy decision.
He said: “Following the decision of the local planning authority, the law requires the Secretary of State to consider this major application.
“I wrote to Angela Rayner on 1st September to encourage her to make a prompt decision.
“More uncertainty is in no-one’s interests.
“I hope we won’t be made to wait longer due to Labour’s reshuffle and that Steve Reed will give his view very soon.”
In the letter, he said: “Due to the nature of the project, the decision now comes to you for approval.
“I urge you to consider it swiftly.
“This is in everyone’s interests so that the Club has certainty about its future and, if upheld, that it can begin to develop its detailed plans to deliver on the commitments made to local residents.”
Fellow Oxfordshire MPs Anneliese Dodds and Sean Woodcock wrote to Steve Reed last week asking that the decision should be made “speedily” for the sake of the club and its fans.
Campaign group Friends of Stratfield Brake wrote to secretary of state the asking for the plans to be called in.
The holding direction will remain in place until the secretary of state decides whether to call in the planning application.
The department said the holding direction should not be read as an indication of how the secretary of state views the application.