A Planning Inspector’s decision to refuse planning permission for a housing development on the site of Brandon Stadium demonstrates the importance of local plans in protecting community facilities.
The stadium was used for motorcycle speedway, it was the home of the Coventry Bees, and stockcar racing until 2016 when the operator went broke. Since then, there has been vandalism and a fire which have affected the premises.
The site owner, Jersey based Brandon Estates Limited, submitted a planning application for 124 dwellings, open space and a 3G sports pitch. A third-generation sports pitch is a modern artificial surface pitch built to allow all-weather sport activity with lighting and associated facilities. It was, no doubt, included in the application as compensation for the loss of the stadium.
The planning application was submitted in January 2018 and refused by Rugby Council in November 2022. Officers recommended approval of the application but councillors unanimously refused it and this decision was recently upheld by the Planning Inspector following a public enquiry held in September and November last year.
In a very carefully argued report the Inspector, Helen Hockenhul, argued that the development was acceptable in terms of the Green Belt, as it had no more impact than the existing development. There was no over-riding need for the additional housing and the location of the 3G pitch was not ideal for residents of Coventry and Rugby.
The Rugby Local Plan and the Brandon and Bretford Neighbourhood Plan both identified Brandon Stadium as a community facility. Proposals that removed community facilities should be required to demonstrate that they are no longer needed or viable and there is no realistic prospect of viability being improved.
The Inspector took a great deal of effort to examine the viability of returning the site to its previous use.
The Save Coventry Speedway and Stox campaign group was granted a role at the inquiry and put forward plans for a modest reinstatement of the facilities at a cost of £737,000. The developers argued that it would cost £13 million. The Inspector felt the cost was likely to be more than the campaigners argued, but didn’t need to be at the level the developers claimed.
The closure of other stadiums in the West Midlands and examples of stadiums that had been successfully reinstated persuaded the Inspector that the site could be viable.
The Inspector determined that the need to keep the stadium, and its national importance to speedway and stock car racing, outweighed the proposed benefits of the redevelopment scheme.
The vandalism at the stadium appears to be related to a failure to protect the property and in 2022 Brandon Estates was fined £5000 with £54,000 costs for breaching a Community Protection Notice which had been imposed to protect the site.
Whilst the Inspector’s decision is a welcome victory for Rugby Council and the SCS campaigners, it does little to guarantee the return of the Bees to the Brandon Stadium. The site remains owned by an offshore company which is likely to be focussed on maximising profits. In these times of local authority austerity Rugby Council is unlikely to be able to afford to use its compulsory purchase powers. The finding that the development was acceptable in terms of the Greenbelt, means that if a viable proposal does not come forward, housing will be back on the cards. A developer with deep pockets will be prepared to wait to see how things develop.
Visit www.rugby.gov.uk/coventrystadium to read the Inspector’s full decision.