A SENIOR officer has been appointed to take charge of efforts to wrest back control of the once great and long-neglected Oxford Stadium.

Since early last year Oxford City Council has been working on plans to seize the greyhound and speedway track in Sandy Lane through a compulsory purchase order.

As campaigners grow restless Linda Smith, a Blackbird Leys councillor and board member for leisure, parks and sports, moved to reassure people progress was being made.

She said: “I’m anxious to move things forward and make sure this doesn’t drag on. All our efforts are on bringing the site back as a stadium.

“It’s an indication of how seriously the city council is taking this that [leader] Bob Price has taken responsibility for liaising with interested parties.”

In order to force a buyback of the stadium the council needs to show it has a prospective buyer with a viable business case for bringing it back.

Tim Sadler, the council’s executive director for a sustainable city, has now been tasked with co-ordinating efforts towards the CPO.

Ms Smith added: “We will have a senior person for the stadium to accommodate things and drive them forward.

“I’m going to be meeting with Tim about this next week and chart a plan so that we can give people some timescales.”

Since its closure in 2012 Oxford Stadium, a heritage site and conservation area, has been allowed to fall into disrepair by owners Cowley Property Investments.

Its parent firm, venture capitalists Risk Capital Partners, was thwarted in its attempts to build homes on the site in 2015 and has remained silent ever since.

When it was swapped from one subsidiary firm to another last year it was revealed the transaction was worth £1.5m, putting a value on the land for the first time in years.

Meanwhile, enforcement teams from the council are working with tenants on a string of potential security concerns as the site continues to fall into disrepair.

Andy Cooper, who runs go-karting firm Karting Oxford on the site, said: “The council keep telling me they have a plan but they’re pretty long-winded with it.

“There are plans for a regeneration of Blackbird Leys; they’re refurbishing the community centre but they could pull that down, build some houses and build it here.

“There’s no mention of how the stadium could fit into this; there’s all sorts of extra facilities here and £1.5m is a bargain. It’s the lateral thinking that is lacking.”