TWO new bidders who want to revive greyhound racing and speedway at Oxford Stadium have come forward, city council leader Bob Price has said.

In December, owners of the stadium in Sandy Lane, Blackbird Leys, took the city council to a judicial review after it designated the stadium a conservation area to prevent homes from being built on the site.

A High Court judge threw out the challenge by GRA Acquisition Ltd last month and campaigners said afterwards they wanted to see greyhound racing and speedway return.

Now city council leader Bob Price has revealed that two new bidders have come forward since the judicial review decision.

Mr Price would not reveal the identity of the bidders, but said: “There has been very strong interest from two bidders since the judicial review.

“We can’t say who they are but they met the council because they wanted to clarify the latest position regarding planning after the decision in relation to the conservation area.

“They made an approach because they want to get greyhound and speedway up and running again.

“We would like to see the stadium brought back into use this year.

“The stadium does need some work done on it but I think that would only take about three months – it could be brought back into use quite easily.”

Last year the city council refused developer Galliard Homes planning permission to build 220 homes on the site.

Speedway fan Nikki Davis, 30, from Kidlington, who lives with husband Matt Davis, 28, a landscape gardener, and daughter Chloe, seven months, said she was delighted to hear of the latest bids.

She added: “I want Chloe to be able to enjoy speedway when she grows up.

“These bids show that the interest in the stadium is there – it’s not just rumours and speculation.

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“Lots of different people in the community are working together with the same goal.”

 

Greyhound racing at the stadium used to attract about 1,000 fans on a Saturday night but before the stadium closed in 2012 the number had dropped to about 700.

And Oxford Cheetahs speedway sessions used to attract about 4-500 supporters but it stopped at the stadium in 2007.

Save Our Stadium campaigner Mick Wheble said: “I think it’s positive that two new bidders have come forward – it’s another plus for the stadium.

“I believe that the future of the stadium could be decided soon, with new owners announced.

“That is likely to be one of the two latest bids, or six previous ones, unless one of the big bookmakers comes in.

“This certainly sounds hopeful and it would only take three months to do up the stadium – there are 200 volunteers who would step in to help out tomorrow.”

Businesses currently using the stadium include Karting Oxford and Dance Connection dance studio.

Andy Cooper, of Karting Oxford, added: “It might take a while for something to happen with the stadium – it’s not straightforward.”

Oxford East MP Andrew Smith said: “I think these new bids bear out what I have always said – that there is a real interest in operating the stadium as a stadium.

“What we need to see from the owners is a positive response to these bids – they should not just sit on this asset and let it rot.”

Sam Clifton, who runs Dance Connection, said: “We have about 350 school pupils on our books and we would love to add a fifth studio but we don’t know whether we should invest any more money.

“Bringing greyhound and speedway back would make the stadium even more viable.”

Managing director of the Greyhound Racing Association Clive Feltham said the GRA was no longer owned by GRA Acquisition Ltd and he had no knowledge of any bids.

The bidders

  • SINCE the Oxford Stadium shut in 2012 there has been several bidders keen to take over the site.
  • Developer Galliard Homes suffered a major blow last year when its desire to build more than 200 homes on the Oxford Stadium site was rejected by the city council.
  • Wimbledon-based estate agent Robert Brinkley, who owns about 50 greyhounds, made a formal bid with agents to buy the Sandy Lane site for an undisclosed sum in 2014.
  • Steventon farmer Robert Tyrrell also said he was interested in buying the stadium last year.
  • And Irish businessman Paschal Taggart, revealed his ambition to develop the site as world-class greyhound facility in 2013.

The owners?

  • THE Greyhound Racing Association (GRA) is a private company involved in the management of sports venues.
  •  In 2005 GRA Ltd was sold to Risk Capital Partners Ltd for £50m.
  •  In 2012 GRA closed its stadium in Oxford with Moorstown Mystiq racing to victory in front of a capacity crowd.
  •  Oxford Stadium was built in 1938 on the site of a non-regulated track where owners turned up and ran their greyhounds.
  •  A grandstand was built and the stadium then joined the the National Greyhound Racing Club.
  •  The inaugural race night was on March 31, 1939, and was officially opened by Lord Denham.
  •  The GRA now runs four sites – Wimbledon stadium in London, the Belle Vue stadium in Manchester, and two stadiums called Hall Green and Perry Barr in Birmingham.
  •  The GRA’s managing director is Clive Feltham.
  •  Oxford Stadium is now owned by Londonbased GRA Acquisition Ltd. The two directors are Donagh O’Sullivan and Benedict Redmond.
  •  Last month the High Court dismissed an application by GRA Acquisition Limited challenging the city council’s decision to designate Oxford Stadium as a conservation area in line with planning laws.
  •  The case was heard before Mr Justice Ouseley on December 8 and judgement was handed down on Thursday, January 22.
  •  The Oxford Mail hasn’t heard back from either GRA or Galliard Homes.