THE chairman of Basingstoke Town FC has said the club will no longer fight the decision to build 85 dwellings and a 70-bedroom care home on the Camrose football stadium, after an inspector approved the developer's appeals.

As previously reported permission was granted for 85 dwellings and a care home to be built on the Camrose football stadium site.

Basingstoke Town Football Club, which occupied the site before it was thrown out by its former owner Rafi Razzak and his company Basron, had been fighting for the borough council’s development control committee refusal decision to be upheld, but the inspector has since sided with the developer.

SEE MORE: Leader of council calls on Basingstoke Town FC to share 'ambition' about the future of the club

Today the chairman of Basingstoke Town FC Jack Miller has said the club will not fight the decision and won't be taking it to the High Court.

He said: Following the decision that we learned a couple of weeks ago now following discussions with our legal representatives, aside from the significant costs involved in a proposed challenge to the High Court, we have decided that we are not going to be appealing the decision further. We have also been led to believe the decision is not going to be overturned.

“We still don’t know the outcome of the asset of community value outcome stamp that is still to be decided.”

He said the clubs’ aspirations have not changed and they still "want a home to call their own".

He added: “Our next steps are that we are going to focus on a two-pronged approach, one for our mid to long-term aspirations, and on that nothing has changed. We want the community club to have a like for like replacement for the Camrose as a home of our in the town.

“The club is pushing this because the borough needs wider leisure facilities in order for us to be able to grow.”

READ MORE: 'I was in total shock about what they told me, I couldn't believe I had something that serious'

He hopes the club can meet with the council in the next few weeks to come up with a “collaborative plan” for the club’s future.

He added: “We need to work out how this will work collectively and that is the right attitude to have. For me, the council needs to step up and meet us in the middle regarding progression and we are offering them the chance to support sport, health, and wellbeing in the town and that can’t just be delivered to them on a plate for them to look at. It needs to be everyone pulling in the same direction.”

We need to demonstrate to them that other councils have done similar things to help football clubs.

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