BASRON has submitted an appeal against the decision to reject planning applications on the Camrose ground at the 11th hour.

Councillors threw out the company's plans to build a housing estate and a care home on the historic football stadium last year, citing overdevelopment concerns and that the loss of the ground was not mitigated.

But with less than a week until the deadline for Basron, owned by former club chairman Rafi Razzak, to lodge an appeal, Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council have this afternoon confirmed that the decision will now be considered by the Planning Inspector.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council’s Head of Planning and Infrastructure, Ruth Ormella, said: “The council has received an appeal for each of the Camrose planning applications, appealing against the Development Control committee’s decision to refuse the applications.

"These appeals will be considered by the Planning Inspectorate.”

The news comes three weeks after Mr Razzak also appealed against the authority's decision to list the stadium as an asset of community value.

The Camrose was gifted to the town by newspaper proprietor William Berry in the 1950s.

Last February, this newspaper discovered a historic covenant stating that football should be played on the ground until 2053.

The decision to reject the two planning applications was taken in September 2020, with councillors citing policies CN8, EM1 and EM10 of the authority's local plan.

Councillors, led by Conservative Nick Robinson and independent Paul Harvey, unanimously backed refusal of the applications. They argued that the plans to mitigate for the loss of the Camrose failed council policy as it did not provide "equivalent or better" facilities "in terms of quality, quantity and accessibility".

The council's planning team is now forced to argue to the Planning Inspector that the decision to reject the plans was the right one, despite recommending that councillors approve the applications in September.

More to follow.