Falmer article in today's Times

[Cheshire]

The picture taken to accompany the article is made to look like we are talking about the most scenic place on earth, apart from the nettles! While the Seagull crest, which is about the same size as the map, is a very poor photocopied one and looks tatty.

Another article is printed on the same page under the heading 'A piece of country will be lost for ever'. In this we are made to feel sorry for the farmer Mr Lenihan who faces financial ruin if the stadium is built (but that is part of the terms of his lease - that the land can be claimed for redevelopment).

Somehow you expect better from the Times a bit more factual reporting. They have in the past printed some good articles on our plight. But this one is just a joke.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

That would make a brilliant headline in the Sunday Sport, Aliens move the Solent to Brighton.

I've also noticed that they've moved the South Downs to somewhere between Burgess Hill and Haywards Heath. The need for a new tunnel will just f*** the railways up even more.

 

[Curious Orange]

Okay, following Lord B's comments and some additional thoughts of my own, here is draft number two (more comments welcome please):


Dear Sir

I read with interest the article 'Stadium plan 'a threat to rural beauty spots'' by Laura Peek in the 5 June edition of timesonline.

It neatly highlighted the conflict between the need to preserve the landscape, and the need to save the community's local football club. Nobody can disagree that it is worth saving valuable Downland, nor that Brighton & Hove Albion desperately need a new stadium.

I am bound however to point out that there were a few inaccuracies in the article pertaining to the nature of the Village Way site. The site is not surrounded by woodland, in fact directly to the north is the railway and the extremely busy A27 dual-carriageway, to the west is the University of Brighton campus (some of the rather unattractive 1960's buildings there are due to be demolished as part of the development, approval to construct modern replacements has been granted but won't go ahead unless the stadium is approved), and to the south is Village Way itself and another fallow field on the other side of that. It should also be noted that the development plan includes a programme of tree planting on the site to enhance the area which has become seriously degraded in the forty years since it was designated an AONB. Currently the site does not compare in aesthetic or ecological terms with the wonderful rolling downland that can be found a few minutes drive to the south on the road to Rottingdean.

It is also erroneous to suggest that the site is within the proposed boundaries of the National Park, it isn't. In fact the decision on precisely where the boundaries are placed isn't due to be made until after Mr Prescott has made his final decision on the stadium, in order that this can better inform the boundary decision. In any case the sites status as an AONB will be taken away once the National Park comes into being.

It has also been suggested that supporting facilities such as a cinema may be built in the future. Put plainly the site is not big enough for those things to be constructed.

Falmer was only selected after a careful analysis of all possible stadium sites in the Brighton area. The location reflects government planning policy guidelines and is the only available site with sustainable transport links. It offers considerable community benefits in an area desperately in need of them, and it has already been designated for development within the deposit local plan.

Finally it was also stated that Norman Cook is a director of Brighton & Hove Albion FC, although he is a major shareholder he declined a place on the board.

I hope that you are willing to make these points clear to your readers. It is important that we preserve our landscape where it is warranted, however it is also important that the democratic process is not undermined needlessly.

Yours sincerely

Andrew Palmer

 

[Bwian]

You could always attach Roz's picture of the AONB showing all of the garbage, along with the postcard.

Oh, and an accurate map

 

[Gwylan]

Am I missing something? I've read the article three times now and I can't find any mention of the farmer that FBS refers to.

I'm also a bit baffled by the claims that the stadium would herald a host of other developments. Wasn't one of the NIMBY claims that the area was too small to host a modern stadium? It now appears to be able to hold a stadium, hotel and god knows what else. Are we building in the Tardis or something?

 

[Curious Orange]

Okay, here is the final version, which I have just e-mailed to the Letters address of the Times:

Dear Sir

I read with interest the article 'Stadium plan 'a threat to rural beauty spots'' by Laura Peek in the 5 June edition of timesonline.

It neatly highlighted the conflict between the need to preserve the landscape, and the need to save the community's local football club. Nobody can disagree that it is worth saving valuable Downland, nor that Brighton & Hove Albion desperately need a new stadium.

I am bound however to point out that there were a few inaccuracies in the article pertaining to the nature of the Village Way site. The site is not surrounded by woodland, in fact directly to the north is a railway and the extremely busy A27 dual-carriageway, to the west is the University of Brighton campus (some of the rather unattractive 1960's buildings there are due to be demolished as part of the development, approval to construct modern replacements has been granted but won't go ahead unless the stadium is approved), and to the south is Village Way itself and another fallow field on the other side of that. It should also be noted that the development plan includes a programme of tree planting on the site to enhance the area which has become seriously degraded in the forty years since it was designated an AONB. Currently the site does not compare in aesthetic or ecological terms with the wonderful rolling downland that can be found a few minutes drive to the south on the road to Rottingdean.

It is also erroneous to suggest that the site is within the proposed boundaries of the National Park, it isn't. In fact the decision on precisely where the boundaries are placed isn't due to be made until after Mr Prescott has made his final decision on the stadium, in order that this can better inform the boundary decision. In any case the sites status as an AONB will be taken away once the National Park comes into being.

It has also been suggested that supporting facilities such as a cinema may be built in the future. Put plainly the site is not big enough for those things to be constructed, indeed it was a claim of opponents of the scheme at the Public Inquiry that the site wasn't even big enough for the stadium, so to suggest anything additional would be built there is laughable.

Falmer was only selected after a careful analysis of all possible stadium sites in the Brighton area. The location reflects government planning policy guidelines and is the only available site with sustainable transport links. It offers considerable community benefits in an area desperately in need of them, and it has already been designated for development within the deposit local plan.

Finally it was also stated that Norman Cook is a director of Brighton & Hove Albion FC, although he is a major shareholder he declined a place on the board.

I hope that you are willing to make these points clear to your readers. It is important that we preserve our landscape where it is warranted, however it is also important that the democratic process, which has to date overwhelmingly backed the proposal of a stadium at Falmer, is not undermined needlessly.

Yours sincerely

Andrew Palmer

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Excellent, ANDREW.

 

[dougdeep]

Do you think it's likely to be printed,these newspapers don,t care
much for the truth?

 

[Curious Orange]

Do you think it's likely to be printed,these newspapers don,t care
much for the truth?

It is possible that it will be printed, the letters page of the Times is usually quite extensive and open with regards to comment on articles that they have published. If enough people write in about this particular issue I'm sure that they are likely to pick up on it as being an issue (although that would decrease the likleyhood of my own letter being published!). We shall see what we shall see.

 

[Scoffers]

“The saddest thing is that in a couple of years there will not be enough money, so they will build a hotel, driving range, shops or a cinema to keep it afloat,” Richard Allden, a local CPRE officer, said.

My old man (a lifelong Albion fan like me) is best buddies with this CPRE fella, Richard Allden, they play Golf together regularly at Brighton & Hove Golf Club.

 

[oldham gull]

All together now...Good old sussex by the Solent, Good old Sussex by the solent, and were going up and we'll win the cup for Sussex by the solent.

 

[Spicy]

Excellent letter, Andrew.

 

[Curious Orange]

Excellent letter, Andrew.

Thanks spicy, however it is only excellent if it gets printed methinks. Otherwise the only other place it'll be seen is on here, and preaching to the converted isn't really spreading the word.

 

[Spicy]

Thanks spicy, however it is only excellent if it gets printed methinks. Otherwise the only other place it'll be seen is on here, and preaching to the converted isn't really spreading the word.

You are right, of course, but if it isn't printed we will all write.

 

[Gully]

I was a little disappointed when reading the article in today's Times, in fact for a moment I wondered if Piers Morgan had taken over as editor due to the number of inaccuracies it contained. Hopefully the Times will see fit to print the letter drafted above, at least it irons out the inaccuracies in their article, the issue over Falmer is complicated enough without broadsheets spreading muck over our plans.

As for the farmer worried about his livelihood, I am sure the club could come up with a deal whereby all foodstuffs sold at the stadium are sourced locally, it would help create a real Sussex experience for all those who visit. If Falmer is built I am convinced that it will make a massive difference to the local economy and to the city as a whole, come on John do the right thing.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

The Falmer for All Team are also preparing a letter to the Times.

 

[Curious Orange]

The Falmer for All Team are also preparing a letter to the Times.

Good work. The more letters the better. I think it would be useful if they perhaps mentioned that the farmland part of the site is actually owned by the city council and only on lease to the farmer in question, also I believe the land is currently fallow, certainly there was no sign of any wheat being grown when I passed it about a month ago.

 

[Robot Chicken]

No one mentioned this Times article: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1134571,00.html

'A piece of country will be lost forever'
PETE LENIHAN will lose his livelihood farming vegetables, wheat and free-range chickens if Falmer Stadium is built on the South Downs.

Mr Lenihan, 48, who also runs the local farm shop, would be stripped of half his 45 acres of farmland to make way for the 22,000-capacity stadium.

He is now facing financial ruin. “I will lose half my farm if this goes ahead,” he said. “There is nothing I can do about it. It is my living. It could have been my living until I die.

“We have had this hanging over us for more than five years and waiting for a decision about what to do with our lives for all that time.

“They are ripping our work to pieces. No one in the village wants the football stadium. It will ruin this area.”

He added: “I could be fortunate and generate income from the stadium if I won supply contracts, but I don’t think that will be the case. I would be in severe competition with national companies.”

Mr Lenihan rents his land from the council but, under the terms of the lease, it can be reclaimed for development.

“I will lose my living if this goes ahead. We are looking at moving away, maybe even emigrating,” he said.

Other villagers said that they feel they are at the mercy of a national football obsession that overrides everything else. Angela Stannard, 60, said: “It is opium for the masses. I am not against football but there is a lot more to life. It takes up too much space and time and is too invasive in the countryside.”

Mrs Stannard said that the peaceful beauty of Falmer, a cluster of small cottages around a duck pond, has been helping her to recover from the death of her husband.

“It will bring the noise and pollution and everything else that goes with football. We will be overrun. We will never regain that piece of countryside. It will be lost forever.

“It is when things are difficult in life that you need the countryside. It is so easy to let that go and have nowhere as a sanctuary.”

 

[Scoffers]

Any arguement about Falmer and noise/AONB/never be the same again is a load of cobblers. The hamlet of Falmer was ruined a long time ago when they decided to route the A27 right through the middle of it. Enough said

 

[Gwylan]

"No one in the village wants the football stadium" ? Doesn't one of the Albion directors live in the village?

I feel a bit sorry for this guy but under the terms of the lease he could have lost his land anyway. And as Gully says, the club could look to help him out.

At least I know what farmer people are talking about now.