MAJOR BOOST FOR OXFORD

OXFORD Stadium could re-open as early as next spring – raising hopes for a return of speedway to Cowley for the first time since 2007.

Greyhound operator Kevin Boothby has secured a ten-year lease with stadium owners Galliard Homes, whose plans to redevelop the site for housing have been repeatedly thwarted.

The Oxford Local Plan has designated the stadium should remain a leisure facility for the next 16 years, following on from a rejected planning application and a failed legal challenge to the site’s conservation status – as well as incessant work from the Save Oxford Stadium campaign.

Boothby said: “It’s exciting times ahead. We need to deliver a fantastic business for the local community and create a lot of jobs.

“The venue is a fantastic facility. The idea is to get greyhound racing running by next March or April. The restaurant needs a lot of work, but we can get it up and running.

“If we can get speedway on, if we can get it viable, of course we’ll look at it – we’ve got a speedway track there. My mum and dad used to take me to Boston Speedway on a Sunday when I was younger, so I followed speedway for many years.”