THE CHAIR of Basingstoke Town Community Football Club has described the decision to allow development on the Camrose stadium site “a travesty” but says “this is not the end” in the fight to save it.

As previously reported, permission has been granted for 85 dwellings and a 70-bedroom care home on the Camrose football stadium site after a government inspector approved the developer's appeals.

The community 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 today (May 6) it was announced that the inspector has sided with the developer.

READ MORE: Permission granted for flats and care home on Camrose ground after inspector APPROVES developer appeals

Reacting to the news, current club chair Jack Miller described the outcome as a “travesty”, adding: “We are massively disappointed. It’s everything that we have been fighting for. The messages are already pouring in on social media from everyone, not just in the town but also the wider football community.

“It’s beyond words. It’s happening all over the country. The government announced last week that they were going to put in place legislation to stop this exact thing happening, because it’s morally wrong.”

Jack said that the inspector’s report, in his opinion, included “incorrect information”.

He continued: “A massive point in it was that the club looks like it’s doing better at Winklebury. It’s not that we are doing better at Winklebury, it’s because of all the people that are helping out, rather than Razzak who bought the club and ran it poorly.”

SEE ALSO: ‘The right decision’: Basron director reacts to Camrose plans being given ahead

When asked about the next steps, Jack said: “We are speaking to our legal representatives, to see what the experts say and we are having a board meeting next week to see what options we have.

“I don’t think this is the end. It’s a massive disappointment, but we will see what happens off the back of it.

“It’s easy for people to say move on when it doesn’t affect them. This has gone back and forth, so that goes to show how this has been and how different people think differently about it.

“It’s just very disappointing that a government-led inspection has gone against a unanimous decision by our own local council committee. One person has made this decision and it doesn’t impact them at all.”

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