THE future of a £300million project to rebuild Basingstoke Leisure Park could be at risk as both the developer and council are refusing to provide certainty it will go ahead, with plans described as "dead in the water".

Retail giant New River has refused to deny it is pulling out of the scheme to redevelop the 60-acre site, owned by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council.

As previously reported, the real estate investor was appointed as the borough council's partner in 2016 to regenerate the ageing leisure park, currently home to the Aquadrome, Milestones and Planet Ice, with bold plans to build a designer retail village and a host of new leisure facilities. The agreement would see New River granted a 250-year lease to manage the site.

An initial timeline started work would begin "as early as 2023" but three years later, the developer is yet to put forward a planning application for the project.

It was initially delayed in 2019 due to a legal challenge from Festival Place and then saw further setbacks in 2020 due to the pandemic, according to the council.

In June, the leader of the council Ken Rhatigan told The Gazette in June that he expected an update in July, but that the plans in their current form would need to be "rethought".

But now in late August, the public is yet to receive an update from either New River or the council.

The Gazette asked New River for an update on the plans this, and whether it intends to pull out of the scheme, On both points, a spokesman declined to comment.

Councillor Andy McCormick, leader of the opposition, said he was "concerned" about the risk of New River departing from the project, which would leave the authority with a need to redevelop the site but without a private funding partner to operate it.

He told The Gazette; "There have been reports that it is dead in the water and to all external appearances, it is."

However, he added: “I can’t really say anything because it’s in the hands of lawyers at the moment.

“Once people start getting lawyers involved, it’s very sensitive because the council could lose a lot of money. So I am not at liberty to discuss the current situation.”

Councillor Ken Rhatigan, leader of the council, described New River as the council's "current partners" and said an update is expected "imminently" within the next ten days.

When asked about whether a lack of news from New River indicated it was pulling out of the project, he said: "I am not going to comment on speculation. It is not true at the moment or it may never be true.

He continued: “We continue to negotiate and work with New River until we stop negotiating and working with them, and we are working very hard on that. I am not going to do anything that could jeopardise anything by speculating on something that is not true.”