BASINGSTOKE Leisure Park could be “a good place to build a stadium” and become the new home for Basingstoke Town Football Club, a councillor has said.

As previously reported, former chairman of Basingstoke Town Football Club Rafi Razzak and his company Basron Developments Ltd lodged appeals against a decision by

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council’s development control committee to reject plans for the site.

The proposals were to demolish the Camrose and build 85 dwellings and a 70-bedroom care home.

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The Camrose was the home of the football club for more than 70 years until it was evicted by Mr Razzak in 2016.

A government planning inspector conducted an inquiry into the council’s decisions, and Mr Razzak was granted outline permission for both applications in May.

The inspector cited multiple reasons for his decision, including “significant economic and social benefits from the provision of much-needed housing”.

Since the news, the club has said it won’t be taking the decision to the High Court, but protesters have since lodged a complaint against the inquiry.

The club currently play at the Winklebury Football Complex but are hoping find a new home.

The current chairman of the club Jack Miller confirmed to the Gazette that he has been in discussion with key members of the council and Basingstoke Leisure Park and Manydown have been earmarked as potential sites.

Since then, the leader of the Basingstoke and Deane Independent group, councillor Paul Harvey has been reacting to the news.

He said: “They have not consulted councillors so if the cabinet has got an idea where they can build a stadium they should consult members and I would look forward to hearing what they had to say.

“If you think of the leisure park that would be a really good place to put a stadium, particularly a stadium that could cater for events as well as football. You could imagine the sort of music events that we could put on at a multipurpose stadium at the leisure park that would give a real attraction to the leisure park.

“We want the leisure park to be an attraction with restaurants and sports but also really good leisure facilities.”

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When asked about the idea of building a stadium as part of the Manydown regeneration he added: “It would be a long-term proposal because that won’t happen overnight. Manydown has been talked about for nearly 25 years and the council has not yet built a single house.”

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