dougdeep
New member
"PUT ALBION AT SHOREHAM" by John Eccles(Sx.Express)
Brighton and Hove Albion directors should forget about building a new stadium at Falmer and concentrate on Shoreham Harbour as a likely venue, a public inquiry has been told.
Lewes District council barrister Robert White told the re-opened Falmer inquiry the club should stay at Withdean in the short-term until the likely future of the harbour site was resolved.
In his opening submission, he said stadium plans for Falmer should be scrapped because significant damage would be caused to an attractive stretch of open landscape and versatile agricultural land would be lost.
The loss of land to a development of that scale would also completely erode the open gap between Brighton and Falmer and amount to the encroachment of the built up area into rural surroundings.
He added "The evidence will demonstrate that there exist alternative sites within Brighton which are able to meet any need for the development without incurring the same weight of objection."
"Those sites are available,affordable, of the right size and meet the requirements of the football league."
"None demonstrate the same level of harm that has been demonstrated to exist if the stadium proceeds at Falmer."
He continued "Lewes District Council has sought to be realistic and relies only on those sites which it considers to be genuinely available and suitable for the football club."
"In no particular order, those sites at Sheepcote Valley, Toads Hole Valley, Withdean and Shoreham Harbour."
"But while Sheepcote and Toads Hole are able to accommodate a 22,000 seat stadium, the council accepts that Withdean is not a suitable location for a development of such scale (certainly at this time)"
"However, it submits that there is no compelling reason for the club to move now. It can remain at Withdean in the short-term until a more suitable alternative is found."
"Such a long-term solution might be found at Shoreham Harbour."
"There are undoubtedly difficulties associated with development there. However it would be folly and contrary to policy, to ignore the potential of one of the country's largest brownfield sites in favour of an alternative location at Falmer."
Albion barrister Jonathan Clay said Shoreham Harbour would not provide a site for a stadium. One would have to be carved out from existing buildings and filling in parts of the harbour basin.
Brighton and Hove Albion directors should forget about building a new stadium at Falmer and concentrate on Shoreham Harbour as a likely venue, a public inquiry has been told.
Lewes District council barrister Robert White told the re-opened Falmer inquiry the club should stay at Withdean in the short-term until the likely future of the harbour site was resolved.
In his opening submission, he said stadium plans for Falmer should be scrapped because significant damage would be caused to an attractive stretch of open landscape and versatile agricultural land would be lost.
The loss of land to a development of that scale would also completely erode the open gap between Brighton and Falmer and amount to the encroachment of the built up area into rural surroundings.
He added "The evidence will demonstrate that there exist alternative sites within Brighton which are able to meet any need for the development without incurring the same weight of objection."
"Those sites are available,affordable, of the right size and meet the requirements of the football league."
"None demonstrate the same level of harm that has been demonstrated to exist if the stadium proceeds at Falmer."
He continued "Lewes District Council has sought to be realistic and relies only on those sites which it considers to be genuinely available and suitable for the football club."
"In no particular order, those sites at Sheepcote Valley, Toads Hole Valley, Withdean and Shoreham Harbour."
"But while Sheepcote and Toads Hole are able to accommodate a 22,000 seat stadium, the council accepts that Withdean is not a suitable location for a development of such scale (certainly at this time)"
"However, it submits that there is no compelling reason for the club to move now. It can remain at Withdean in the short-term until a more suitable alternative is found."
"Such a long-term solution might be found at Shoreham Harbour."
"There are undoubtedly difficulties associated with development there. However it would be folly and contrary to policy, to ignore the potential of one of the country's largest brownfield sites in favour of an alternative location at Falmer."
Albion barrister Jonathan Clay said Shoreham Harbour would not provide a site for a stadium. One would have to be carved out from existing buildings and filling in parts of the harbour basin.