A LEAD campaigner against the new stadium scheme for Wycombe Wanderers and Wasps has called for an investigation into a council's involvement in the plans.

Gary Nuttall, the chairman of protest group GASP, today claimed Wycombe District Council has 'nothing to show' for its involvement in the plan, despite having spent £500,000.

This follows yesterdays admission by former council leader Lesley Clarke that the authority had gone about its consultation process in the wrong way (see link below).

She admitted residents should have first been asked what they thought about the idea of a new stadium, rather than which site it should go on.

Mr Nuttall told Marlow FM that Cllr Clarke now “has the opportunity to do something with that hindsight” and called on her to “undertake an investigation into why we are where we are, having spent half a million pounds”.

Responding to accusations of 'scaremongering' over the number of houses that could be built alongside the stadium, he said GASP [Groups Against the Stadium Proposals] had only ever used the council's own documents, obtained through Freedom of Information requests.

He said: “It's very clear that the council is very unclear about what it's commitment will be....

“If they actually published the information in the first place there wouldn't be this doubt and uncertainty.”

“I don't think it's necessarily an intentional cover-up, it sounds as if they made mistakes but it doesn't look like there was intentional deception anywhere.”

He said he supported the council's intention to get people in Wycombe more involved in sport but said: “You don't gain a health benefit from watching football, you gain a health benefit from playing it.”

Mr Nuttall called on Wanderers to invest in players to fulfil their ambitions of playing at a higher level, saying: “It's not the ground that makes you a good team.”

Wycombe Air Park in Booker would be the site for a new 17,500 – 20,000 seat 'community stadium' for Wanderers and Wasps if the proposals were eventually to be approved.

WDC has pledged £750,000 to investigate the scheme, with about £500,000 having already been spent.

Adams Park was ruled out in a widely criticised consultation process, but GASP would be willing to work with Alex Collingwood, the new council leader, to explore options to make the clubs' current ground a viable venue in the future, Mr Nuttall said.

Ideas such as a park and ride scheme to improve access to Adams Park have not been explored, he added.