The group trying to halt plans for Oxford United’s new 16,000-seater stadium has said it will fight on after it had its appeal for a judicial review turned down.
The club’s plans to build on land known as the Triangle, near Kidlington, were approved by Cherwell District Council and the government last year.
Campaign group Friends of Stratfield Brake (FoSB) decided to challenge the council’s decision, lodging a challenge with the High Court. It said the judge’s refusal was “not unusual at this stage” and that the “scenario” was built into its legal fees budget.
Oxford United has suggested that the club’s future could be in jeopardy were the ground not to be built.
FoSB lodged the legal complaint over the new ground’s potential impact on local wildlife and aspects of the planned road closures.
It said its lawyers had applied for a permission hearing, external in which a barrister would set out why they believed permission for the judicial review should be granted.
It previously launched a fundraiser to cover the legal costs of the appeal.
The group expects a new hearing to be held in late July or early August.