Greens never change
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A blunder by Green councillor Mike Woodin has plunged Oxford United's
stadium plans into further chaos.
Mr Woodin tipped off Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott about plans to build a leisure complex beside the Minchery Farm stadium.
His fears over a multiplex cinema prompted Mr Prescott to step in and put a block on the council granting planning permission. But the outline proposals before today's planning committee contain no reference to a cinema at all.
City councillors on the committee are furious that the Government's intervention was based on a mistake by one of their colleagues. A decision on planning permission could now be put back several weeks. Committee chairman Maureen Christian told Cllr Woodin: "We do not have an application for a multiplex and we were certainly not going to approve it today. This was very rash on your part and showed great disregard for the integrity of the planning committee. I am very angry about it."
Deputy chairman Roberta Woods added: "You have to act responsibly as a member of this committee and in this case I do not think you did."
The leisure complex is central to hotelier Firoz Kassam's proposals to save the debt-ridden club.
London-based Mr Kassam, 43, has paid £500,000 for an option to buy Oxford United before March 31.
Mike Ford, the council's head of planning policy, told the Oxford Mail he did not know how long it would take to sort things out. He said: "This is going to cause problems with the football club and I must send off the paperwork for the Secretary of State.
"The Government has given a commitment that it will make a decision as quickly as possible. That could take maybe days or weeks, I do not know."
Cllr Woodin apologised to the planning committee for the fiasco. He said: "I apologise, particularly to those who are putting in so much energy to try and save Oxford United, and I sincerely wish that their struggle is successful.
"But I have serious problems with the planning issues surrounding Oxford United. I was trying to ensure that all the issues were resolved.
"It has been made very clear to me that a delay at this stage is particularly unhelpful, not only from a planning point of view but from reaching a successful deal with a backer.
"I do very much regret the very unintended effect that might arise from a delay at this stage."
Councillors today delegated permission to council managers to grant outline planning permission for a leisure development - excluding a multiplex cinema - once the issue has been resolved with the Government.
