A SHORTLIST of potential sites for a new football stadium in Basingstoke is expected to be announced in the autumn.

Basingstoke Town Football Club has been forced to put its plan to relocate to a new football stadium on hold because the legality of a consultation held on the proposals could be questioned, as reported by The Gazette.

Last month, Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council told the club that it couldn’t support its plans to build a new stadium on the council-owned land at Old Common Road, until the autumn because the consultation could be “vulnerable to legal challenge”.

While the consultation was under way last summer, a Supreme Court test case ruling on a consultation by the London borough of Haringey declared that its consultation exercise on a council tax reduction scheme was unlawful, because it failed to outline alternative methods of dealing with funding cuts.

This means that the borough council’s consultation could face a similar legal challenge, because other alternative sites considered for the club were not included.

As a result, members of the borough council’s decision-making Cabinet will be asked to approve the launch of a review of council-owned land which will look at the suitability of other alternative sites.

The club wants to build a new £10million 5,124-capacity stadium at the Old Common, in Eastrop, but needs the council to agree to a land transfer.

The plans include redeveloping the current Soccer AM Stadium, in Western Way, into a retail park, which will fund the new stadium and training facilities.

Cllr John Izett told The Gazette: “It is five years since we looked at sites in the council’s ownership and as time has passed, it is right that we should look again at sites in the council’s ownership to see if there are any sites that would be suitable for a new stadium.

“As the Cabinet member responsible for seeing what can be done to help the football club, I am very pleased that for the first time I can remember, we have cross party support from senior members of the opposition parties for us all to work together to see if there is a way forward.”