OXFORD Stadium supporters will have to wait to learn its fate following an all-day hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice.

After listening to legal arguments about whether the dog track should remain a conservation area, Mr Justice (Duncan) Ouseley is now expected to deliver his judgement before Christmas.

More than a dozen Oxford residents and traders listened to the judicial review hearing in London yesterday, where barristers for Oxford City Council and stadium owner the Greyhound Racing Association (GRA) presented their cases.

Counsel for the GRA Thomas Hill QC argued the local authority did not have proper grounds to make the stadium a conservation area, and its decision should be quashed.

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He told Mr Justice Ouseley the council had been influenced by “local pressure” from the community, but insisted he was not suggesting dishonesty or “bad faith” from any council officers or members.

The GRA has previously said it wants to sell the stadium to a developer, and in January property firm Galliard was refused permission to demolish the building and build 220 homes on the site.

The developer later withdrew its appeal against the council’s decision after the stadium was made a conservation area.

Yesterday morning Mr Hill argued the stadium is a private building, not an “area” that can be designated a heritage site, and that the council’s executive board wasn’t given the full facts when it voted on it.

He added: “The decision is not being driven by heritage.

“The absence of any special architectural interest is clear from the materials before the court.

“There is also the failure to refer to English Heritage guidance, and the absence of any comparable designation of any sporting stadium in the UK.

“The conservation area designation simply cannot be supported.”

But the council’s barrister Anthony Crean QC challenged all of these arguments, stating the stadium was not just a single structure, but a “disparate collection” of buildings with many uses.

He said: “All the relevant material, both for and against, was presented to the council prior to them making their decision.

“And there was a wealth of material that was presented about the value of the conservation area.

“The claimant’s position is simply a series of disagreements about the value of that material.”

He added that through activities such as judo, dance classes and go-kart racing the stadium still provides the same “communal” focus for the surrounding “working class” community.

After the hearing stadium bookmaker Robert Dunn, who travelled to London for the hearing, said: “In the grand scheme of the day I thought it went very well.

“Both sides got their points across, and Mr Crean gave our point of view very strongly.

“It looks very good for the future of Oxford Stadium.”

Andy Cooper, who runs go-kart racing at the stadium, said: “The number of people who came just to listen to the case shows the level of support.”

The judgement is expected to be delivered within two weeks.

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