An Eastrop councillor has suggested a proposed new stadium for Basingstoke Town FC should be built at the town’s leisure park – labelling the move as a “perfect solution”.

Cllr Gavin James aired the idea as the borough council’s cabinet prepares to make a decision on January 26 on whether to proceed with the proposal to build the 5,124-capacity football ground on open space at Old Common.

The plan was hit by a six-month delay last year after the authority received a petition signed by 500 members of the public objecting to the idea.

A subsequent meeting revealed that the site was not statutorily protected from development as first thought.

As previously reported in the Observer, borough councillors were last month shown £200million proposals to transform Basingstoke Leisure Park by building an aquadrome, a velodrome and a designer shopping outlet on the 60-acre site.

But Cllr James labelled the idea of including a retail village as “appalling”, instead calling for the site to be used in part by the football club.

He said: “The best option has always been the leisure park, in my opinion.

“A leisure park shouldn’t be for retail, it should be for leisure activities, and having the football club there would do that. The current plans for the leisure park are appalling.

“What they are suggesting is a shopping centre with a swimming pool attached, which we already have at Festival Place.

“The Old Common is too important to lose and it would hurt our town, so having a stadium at the leisure park would be the perfect solution.

“I’ve been opposed to this from day one and I know a hell of a lot of other people are passionate about this.

“It would be bad for the club as well, as they would have to throw events all the time at the new stadium to pay for it, which you wouldn’t be able to do in a residential area.”

Basingstoke Town and the borough council have been in negotiations over a suitable location for a new stadium at no cost to residents for more than 10 years.

And the club has insisted that it would continue to work closely with the authority to find a solution, adding they would be “open to exploring other options”.

A statement said: “The Old Common site was the preferred option for the council and the club have worked in conjunction with the council, meeting all the requirements it has been asked.

“The club acknowledges that in recent months there have been cross-party private meetings to discuss all of the options that the council can offer and looks forward to seeing the report that will be published ahead of the cabinet meeting later this month.”

Club CEO David Knight added: “We’ve always said that it’s down to the council to pick what they think would be an appropriate site, but we are open to exploring other options for sure.”

Around 200 residents met Cllr James and fellow councillor Stuart Parker at Old Common on Saturday ahead of the cabinet’s decision later this month.

Basingstoke Heritage Society secretary, Debbie Reavell, who attended the meeting, said while it would be inappropriate for her to comment on any proposals to build on the leisure park, it would be “very short-sighted” of the council not to look at other options.

She said: “We’re not against the football club at all, but we feel that the council has to stop this proposal and try again to find a better site.

“The Old Common is very close to the town centre, which makes it unique and very special – it’s just too valuable to give away.”