SHE didn’t say that she was a 100 per cent fan of the idea, but Basingstoke MP Maria Miller seems to be more in favour of, than against, Basingstoke Town FC’s plans to site a new £10million stadium on the Old Common.

The football club wants to build its new stadium on land off Old Common Road, in Eastrop, if Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council agrees to transfer the site to the club.

If the plans go ahead, the current Soccer AM stadium, in Western Way, will be redeveloped into an out-of-town retail park.

Opponents of the plan to site the new stadium on the Old Common have signed a petition opposing the proposal, and are calling on the borough council to think again.

During Sports Minister Helen Grant’s visit to Basingstoke, The Gazette asked Mrs Miller if she thought the proposed site is the best location for the new football stadium.

Mrs Miller said: “Our football team is hugely important. They have got incredible support for the new facility. I think the new site has a lot going for it but I do know that the residents are worried about what the impact would be on them in terms of traffic and congestion and the issues around the loss of green fields.

“But my key concern is if they can’t make the old site work for retail, then it is going to be difficult. The problems I would have about the proposals are around the current site use and problems on Brighton Hill Roundabout.

“The council identified in a review last May that without investment, Brighton Hill Roundabout would continue to have congestion, and the solutions put forward don’t yet address that.”

Referring to the proposed stadium site, Mrs Miller added: “I think it is so difficult to find new locations which won’t have an impact on somebody. The new site has been very carefully thought through, but the views of local residents are important.

“There is a potential benefit to The Costello School, which I think we should all be very positive about, but making sure any other problems are addressed is important.”