A CANOE club desperate to find a new permanent base before outdoor lessons resume in spring are hoping a petition with more than 1,300 signatures will change councillors' minds tomorrow.
The petition, first presented to Vale of White Horse District Council in December, calls on the authority to rent Kingfisher Canoe Club land for a new home.
The council will now debate the issue at a full meeting at 7pm in The Beacon, Wantage, on Wednesday.
The Abingdon club– and its youth division Pathfinders – packed up and left its home of 25 years in October.
It came more than 18 months after the club was served an eviction notice by the Army Rowing Club, with which it shared a Wilsham Road site.
The club had identified a 'perfect' new base in the northern corner of Rye Meadow, but its attempt to move there collapsed, with coaches warning the group will die unless it finds a new home by spring.
Planning permission for the Rye Meadow site, which is owned by South Oxfordshire District Council but administered by Vale of White Horse District Council, was approved in October 2016. But in April the club was told that it would no longer be possible, legally, for the authority to provide a lease for the site.
Earlier this month Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran added her backing to the canoe club's cause.
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