WHATEVER you may think of the plan for a new community stadium in Wycombe, one thing is clear – the district council has made an epic muck-up of presenting the idea.

The lack of specific details has been of huge concern to the populace, particularly given the council’s initial £750k commitment for various feasibility studies.

But what really enraged critics was the official consultation, lauded in council circles as being a resounding endorsement for building on the Booker site.

The council’s survey was fundamentally flawed in many people’s opinion because – unlike the study produced later by this newspaper – it failed to ask the basic question: do we actually want or need a new stadium?

So that is why most followers of the saga will heartily welcome the admission this week from ex-leader Lesley Clarke that the council could have done a better job with its consultation.

It is to her credit she says this because she could have easily disappeared quietly on to the back-benches.

But, on the whole, WDC has done itself no favours over the stadium, because, the vultures are now circling and it’s possible the entire project could be doomed.

The Free Press, however, maintains its neutral stance. We ask that, in the face of howling criticism, common-sense prevails instead of knee-jerk reaction.

We simply urge the new regime not to condemn the concept on the basis of past council errors but just find, or settle on, a definitive answer to the question the public should have been asked in the first place: do we need a new stadium in Wycombe?