Concerns over greyhound stadium ‘overcome’ (From The Oxford Times)

Concerns over greyhound stadium ‘overcome’

10:30am Friday 21st September 2012 in News

OXFORD Stadium was not earmarked for development because the landowner did not want it to be, a hearing was told yesterday.

Planning inspector Shelagh Bussey examined a number of sites which Oxford City Council had not included in its sites and housing plan, which could see 8,000 homes built by 2026.

These included Osney Mead, Oxford Retail Park and the greyhound stadium in Cowley, which caused uproar when it was initially included in an earlier version of the plan.

Her aim was to make sure the council had not excluded feasible alternative sites.

Laura Goddard, of Oxford City Council, said: “The landowner [the Greyhound Racing Association] had identified it as a development opportunity. But they are not proposing for it to be allocated.

"All they wanted was a reference that sites not included could still be developed and these concerns were overcome.”

Developer Galliard Homes is hoping to build 225 houses on the stadium site. Hearings into the Barton Area Action Plan will resume today at the Town Hall from 10am.