Village Hotels was chosen by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council in October 2016 as the hotel operator to be given the lease on the site and provide a business class hotel as part of the redevelopment of the business park.

But the hotel will have conference facilities, leisure club including swimming pool, a pub, a restaurant and a Starbucks and is about half a mile from Basingstoke Sports Centre which is under Festival Place.

Now the Basingstoke Gazette has launched a Save Our Sports Centre campaign to oppose the plan which it says could lead to the sports centre’s closure within two years.

In its campaign launch the Gazette states: “If built, the hotel would effectively kill off a thriving community business in the heart of the town centre.”

It says 200 jobs would be lost although Village Hotels says 100 would be created by the new hotel which is yet to gain planning consent.

The campaign also has also argued that the local authority is subsidising the hotel group by carrying out works to level the council-owned land.

However, the council says it would have to undertake those works in any case and has produced evidence to dispute claims over the loss of revenue to the sports centre which is run by a charitable trust.

The council is unusual among local authorities as income from its property portfolio subsidises residents' council tax.

The council’s cabinet member for communities and community safety Cllr Simon Bound, said the authority had supported the centre with capital and grants up to next March worth £5.1m in total.

He added : “We have said to the sports centre that we will work with them to ensure its valuable contribution to the life of the borough is maintained.

“Following the release of a report commissioned by the sports centre, we conducted further independent reviews which contradict or question the conclusions reached by the sports centre.

“Prior to the launch of the petition, we had set up a meeting with the sports centre and we will discuss this information with them there.

“As a borough we cannot stand still and change is inevitable. It is important we strive to bring new opportunities to the borough that will result in more jobs and a wider offer to residents and businesses.

“We are not in the business of wasting tax payers’ money and I want to reassure people that the money spent on groundworks and infrastructure on Basing View needs to happen for any redevelopment, regardless of what it is for.

“The council has worked hard to ensure a good deal for the borough, rather than an annual rent Village Hotels will pay an upfront multi-million pound figure and will also invest £20 million, create 100 new jobs and provide facilities employers on Basing View have been asking for.”

Campaigners against the hotel say they now have a total of 4,000 signatures from online and offline petitions.

Source: TV Property