Dear Editor,

The loss to property speculation of the Camrose Ground, confirmed as an asset of community value, is an enduring stain on our borough. The truth is that the Camrose should have been saved or a brand new replacement ground secured.

I believe this would have happened if from the outset there had been more effective collaboration and imagination from the football and sporting authorities, the borough council, and the then representatives of the new football club (myself included).

There is now a golden opportunity to make amends with the proposed redevelopment of the Leisure Park to the benefit of the whole community. A call has come from a cross-party group of councillors for a multi-purpose/ football stadium to be part of that redevelopment. A community sports hub can be progressively set in place in affordable stages drawing upon available funding from sports bodies' grants.

The council have already identified the need for four new full-sized artificial pitches in the borough. A new artificial pitch at the accessible Leisure Park would be a sensible and imaginative step, offering multi-functional activities to large numbers of users and a permanent home for the town’s football club.

Can all the parties work together to make this happen? This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity.

Cllr Steve Williams

Basingstoke and Deane Independent Group

Overton Hill

Overton

(ex-board Basingstoke Town Community FC)