Falmer is much more than just another muddy field
While the Falmer For All Campaign is well organised and its supporters are behind it, it fails to convince the general public on two points.
First is the aerial view, which puts the site into context on the edge of the proposed South Downs National Park in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
Second is the "view from a supporter's car on the A27".
continued...
This places an ethereal, semitransparent vision of the stadium, just visible above the trees across the railway line, on a muddy brownfield site between ruined Falmer village and the tatty buildings of Brighton University, with the ugly Sixties Sussex University as the backdrop.
The aerial photo complicated this but was dismissed as "cheating".
As the day of decision drew near, I decided to visit the famous "muddy field" with my wife. We started in a pub, The Swan in Falmer village, on a hot July day. After a nice meal and a drink, we set off across the footbridge over the canyon through which the A27 roars. Why didn't they just build it in a tunnel?
The roaring traffic was soon left behind and we arrived at the heart of the village - the pond. Families sat around it, their children playing and feeding the ducks. A dog tried and failed to catch the ducks but was content to chase a ball.
And a group of senior citizens picnicked by the water's edge.
Across the B2123 and on to village way, we gazed upon a beautiful cornfield.
I consulted my map and, yes, this was the right place, shimmering in the hot July sun. To the left was the track over the railway line, called Turnpike Piece, and the boundary on the right was a copse grown to hide the roundabout.
I looked ahead towards Sussex University, but the buildings blended into the Downs and the trees hid the odd modern carbuncle jutting up.
Turning around, there is the future South Downs National Park - not a wilderness but a living, breathing, working environment.
The overwhelming feeling I had standing there was this cornfield was a gateway to that park.
To build the stadium, a new road would be built in Stanmer Park to aid university expansion and car parking for Albion supporters, with a fly-over over the A27, curving into the site via the dual carriageway which will be the new Village Way.
The stadium itself will be built of concrete, glass and metal and associated buildings will fill up the remainder of this site.
Finally, all this will be surrounded by security fencing. Nobody will be able to say this will be a pretty sight.
It is time to halt Brighton's urban expansion and Turnpike Piece is the perfect place. After two Inspectors' reports and a flawed reference from John Prescott, it is time to call a truce and leave this environment and Falmer village in peace.
J R Gilding, Sunninghill Avenue, Hove
12:07pm today
While the Falmer For All Campaign is well organised and its supporters are behind it, it fails to convince the general public on two points.
First is the aerial view, which puts the site into context on the edge of the proposed South Downs National Park in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
Second is the "view from a supporter's car on the A27".
continued...
This places an ethereal, semitransparent vision of the stadium, just visible above the trees across the railway line, on a muddy brownfield site between ruined Falmer village and the tatty buildings of Brighton University, with the ugly Sixties Sussex University as the backdrop.
The aerial photo complicated this but was dismissed as "cheating".
As the day of decision drew near, I decided to visit the famous "muddy field" with my wife. We started in a pub, The Swan in Falmer village, on a hot July day. After a nice meal and a drink, we set off across the footbridge over the canyon through which the A27 roars. Why didn't they just build it in a tunnel?
The roaring traffic was soon left behind and we arrived at the heart of the village - the pond. Families sat around it, their children playing and feeding the ducks. A dog tried and failed to catch the ducks but was content to chase a ball.
And a group of senior citizens picnicked by the water's edge.
Across the B2123 and on to village way, we gazed upon a beautiful cornfield.
I consulted my map and, yes, this was the right place, shimmering in the hot July sun. To the left was the track over the railway line, called Turnpike Piece, and the boundary on the right was a copse grown to hide the roundabout.
I looked ahead towards Sussex University, but the buildings blended into the Downs and the trees hid the odd modern carbuncle jutting up.
Turning around, there is the future South Downs National Park - not a wilderness but a living, breathing, working environment.
The overwhelming feeling I had standing there was this cornfield was a gateway to that park.
To build the stadium, a new road would be built in Stanmer Park to aid university expansion and car parking for Albion supporters, with a fly-over over the A27, curving into the site via the dual carriageway which will be the new Village Way.
The stadium itself will be built of concrete, glass and metal and associated buildings will fill up the remainder of this site.
Finally, all this will be surrounded by security fencing. Nobody will be able to say this will be a pretty sight.
It is time to halt Brighton's urban expansion and Turnpike Piece is the perfect place. After two Inspectors' reports and a flawed reference from John Prescott, it is time to call a truce and leave this environment and Falmer village in peace.
J R Gilding, Sunninghill Avenue, Hove
12:07pm today
Brilliant.