The Committee considered an application (22/02868/FUL) for change of use of part of car park for motorcycle testing/training and part of stadium for storage and office (a sui generis use) for a temporary period of 2 years at Kassam Stadium and Land Adjacent Falcon Close, Oxford.

The Planning Officer gave a presentation and highlighted the following:

·         The proposal sought continued change of use of part of the car park at the Kassam Stadium for motorcycle testing and training, and part of the stadium for storage and office use, for a period of two years.  The application had originally sought a permanent change of use; however, due to officers’ concerns arising from the stadium being part of an allocated site for residential development within the Local Plan, the application had subsequently been amended to seek temporary consent.

·         The site encompassed a large proportion of the Kassam Stadium, adjacent to Grenoble Road to the south-west of Blackbird Leys.  The stadium was currently home to Oxford United Football Club; however, other uses had taken place in and around the site.

·         The proposal involved small scale changes to the use of parts of the stadium site to provide the office and storage areas.  The office area would be provided in the main building, with storage in a cupboard which would be accessed externally.  Change of use of the car park was also sought, to provide the motorcycle training areas. The changes were considered to be small scale in the context of the overall site, which would not prejudice its principal use as a football stadium. 

·         The site was located more than 100 metres away from the nearest residential property: the proposal was therefore considered unlikely to give rise to any adverse impacts on neighbouring properties in terms of noise disturbance.  As hotels were sited to the east and west of the site, the hours of operation had been restricted to between 8am and 8pm, in order to mitigate any adverse impacts on the hotel occupiers.

·         The site had been in operation as a motorcycle training and testing facility since 2008, with no complaints having to date been received in respect of its use.

·         The site included ample parking provision, and the motorcycle testing/training facility had operated successfully for a number of years without conflicting with the other uses of the site, including the use of the stadium.  No objections had been raised by the Highways Authority, subject to requiring the proposed development to be accessed from Grenoble Road only and for the use of the motorcycle training not to take place on match days or concurrently with other large events.

·         For the reasons set out in the report, officers considered that the proposal was acceptable in design and amenity terms and recommended its approval, subject to the conditions outlined in the report.

In discussion a member of the committee commented on the value of offering motorcycle training and testing within the city, given recent and likely future transport changes which could increase demand for training on vehicles such as electric motorbikes or scooters.

On being proposed, seconded and put to the vote, the Committee agreed with the officer’s recommendation to approve the application for the reasons set out in the report and subject to the required planning conditions set out in the report.

The Oxford City Planning Committee resolved to:

1.      approve the application for the reasons given in the report and subject to the required planning conditions set out in section 12 of the report and grant planning permission; and

2.      delegate authority to the Head of Planning Services to:

·         finalise the recommended conditions and informatives as set out in the report including such refinements, amendments, additions and/or deletions as the Head of Planning Services considers reasonably necessary.