An application to change the constraints around the building of the new Abbey Stadium - impacting on when houses can be built nearby - has emerged.

In June last year DPP Planning, which is based in Cardiff, put in an application to vary the agreement made between Gaming International, which owns Abbey Stadium, and the council about how the reconstruction should proceed.

It has just been validated and made available to view on Swindon Borough Council’s website, and it would appear, if it is approved, to change the requirements on the builders significantly.

And while there are no further documents, just the title of the application shows a desire to change the agreement radically.

It asks for consent to change the milestone programme and plans and delete the longstop date by which date work should be completed.

It even asks to remove from the conditions the requirement for the stadium to be able to host speedway and greyhound racing and it updates details of land ownership 

There are 15 milestones in the Section 106 agreement, and the agreement says the stadium should have new greyhound and speedway tracks in compliance with the planning consent given.

The agreement says that the owners of the site must not start building houses until the first 10 milestones are completed.

Milestone 10 is having the new stadium buildings “practically completed”.

There is something of a difference of opinion between the local authority and the stadium owners and Taylor Wimpey which has started building, and marketing, the last tranche of homes to be built.

The stadium does not appear to be fully constructed and certainly not ready for use.

Swindon Borough Council has launched an investigation into whether the planning conditions and Section 106 agreement have been breached.

Council leader Jim Robbins warned that the local authority's case, if it had one, to take enforcement action would have to be very strong.

He said: “I can only stress how complex the planning history is on this site. Some of the development appears to have been implemented under one consent and some under another – and there are several. This complexity has raised several legal technicalities."

Taylor Wimpey has said that under the Section 106 agreement attached to the outline consent, an independent contract administrator was appointed to certify the planning obligations and that this administrator confirmed to the council in July 2023 that the obligations had been met. 

It said: "These have been duly certified by an independent contract administrator under the terms of the Section 106 agreement.”