Not Andy Naylor
Well-known member
I was in the area so went along to the club's exhibition of its plans for the new training ground in Lancing yesterday and I have to report that many of the locals seemed pretty hostile.
A few spoke out of ignorance - one bloke seemed to think that the first team would be training under lights every evening, when most people know that players do the minimum training they can get away with and see any sessions after 1pm as an infringement of their basic human rights - but there were a number of gripes that kept coming up.
Increased traffic caused by the arrival en masse at 9.30 of our vast squad was one. Then the fact that one all-weather pitch will be floodlit, and available for community use, which will mean noise in the evenings (yes, they complained even though there was local community benefit). And some deer will be deprived of their habitat (which reminded me of the fabled Falmer bats).
But apart from the specifics, the general feeling was that the council had landed this all on them without much notice, and it sounded as if it wasn't the first time. Whether this general dissatisfaction with Adur District ends up delaying the Albion's plans, who knows?
Martin Perry's usual sweet reasonableness was turned up to 11, and he repeatedly made the point that I would have considered most important if I were a resident - that the development guaranteed that the area would remain green, open space rather than becoming housing or light industry. But I got the impression that a few weren't listening.
Of course, the people most likely to object are the ones who turn up at these events and make the most noise, so it may well be that the silent majority will welcome the club with open arms, but we may need to be prepared for another letter-writing campaign...
A few spoke out of ignorance - one bloke seemed to think that the first team would be training under lights every evening, when most people know that players do the minimum training they can get away with and see any sessions after 1pm as an infringement of their basic human rights - but there were a number of gripes that kept coming up.
Increased traffic caused by the arrival en masse at 9.30 of our vast squad was one. Then the fact that one all-weather pitch will be floodlit, and available for community use, which will mean noise in the evenings (yes, they complained even though there was local community benefit). And some deer will be deprived of their habitat (which reminded me of the fabled Falmer bats).
But apart from the specifics, the general feeling was that the council had landed this all on them without much notice, and it sounded as if it wasn't the first time. Whether this general dissatisfaction with Adur District ends up delaying the Albion's plans, who knows?
Martin Perry's usual sweet reasonableness was turned up to 11, and he repeatedly made the point that I would have considered most important if I were a resident - that the development guaranteed that the area would remain green, open space rather than becoming housing or light industry. But I got the impression that a few weren't listening.
Of course, the people most likely to object are the ones who turn up at these events and make the most noise, so it may well be that the silent majority will welcome the club with open arms, but we may need to be prepared for another letter-writing campaign...
