THE jaded may feel that it is inevitable housing will eventually sit on what is now Oxford’s former greyhound stadium.

Galliard Homes has submitted plans for a 220-home estate on the Blackbird Leys site and, as the weeds begin to sprout, there seems little other realistic outcome.

Unless Galliard suddenly has a change of heart and decides to sell it off to one of the parties allegedly keen on reopening it for greyhound racing or for other community leisure use, the stadium will just sit and fester, increasingly becoming an eyesore.

But, as campaigner Ian Sawyer says, this is where the real fight begins.

Oxford City Council is caught between its political position that it does not want to lose the stadium and the planning position that if Galliard ticks certain conditions it will win permission, albeit probably on appeal.

It is crucial that campaigners keep up their fight to a) reinforce the council’s political will, b) make Galliard question if commercially it is worth the fight or, at worse, c) ensure that the developer replaces this lost facility elsewhere.