*** Ultra-Important for Falmer - read and act NOW ***

[The Oldman]

Another email gone. Letter following.
This is a bad day

 

[Marc]

emailed Sky Sports, letters in envelopes now (10 in total) will get the work collegues onto it tomorrow as i'm off work ill.....and this aint helping

 

[SK1NT]

email write all we can do!

cant let tyhis one go, it our future! email mates, work colleagues! the lot

 

[Seagull Stew]

There were two Public Inquiries, running concurrently.

This Inspector's Report (by Mr Hoile) deals with the planning policies. The Report is to the City Council and recommends changes to their planning policies - in particular it rejects the policy to designate land at Falmer for a community stadium.

There will be a second Inspector's Report (by Mr Collyer) that will make a recommendation to John Prescott about whether the Albion's planning application for the stadium should be approved.

Both Inspectors sat together during the Inquiry - so they heard the same evidence.

But this report wasn't prepared for John Prescott.

I thought this had gone beyond Council stage. If a public enquiry hadn't been called in we'd have started building the thing now surely.
Does this mean that Mr Hoile could have recommended that the project is shelved half way through?
Surely, this is a council matter then and the elected bodies within the council can tell Mr Hoile where he stick his recommendations!
Why is there so much f***ing red tape in this country?

 

[tedebear]

phew - just finished my letter - and emailed it everywhere I possibly could!!

 

[Lady Whistledown]

E-mail sent, letters to be posted from several people.

Forwarded e-mail with letter to plenty of others.

 

[Sussex on Leith]

This is the text of the email I've sent to every football fan I know. If you haven't already sent something round, you could copy and paste this and send it to everyone you can think of.


Dear All

You may have seen the news today that the Local Plan Inspector has recommended to John Prescott that he refuse planning permission for Brighton and Hove Albion's proposed new stadium at Falmer. The report calls Brighton a "provincial club" and states that there is "no demonstrable national need" for the stadium.

Prescott isn't obliged to follow this recommendation, but it would be unusual for him to go against it. There is, however, still time to convey to him the level of support among football fans (not just Brighton fans) for a community stadium for Brighton and Hove.

As you'd expect, Brighton fans have been writing to Prescott in their thousands already, and I'll be sending my letter off to him shortly. If you get a free minute today, try to send an email to the address listed on North Stand Chat, or better still, send a letter directly to Prescott. All the details are here:

http://www.northstandchat.biz/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=20

The site is obviously extremely busy today, so keep trying if you're unable to connect first time.

Various draft letters have been posted on NSC for you to copy and paste if you're short of time. These letters set out the many reasons why Falmer is essential to the future of the club and the development of the city. They also list the steps taken by the club to ensure that the proposed stadium respects its environment, local residents and local transport links.

I'm absolutely raging. Nobody can quite believe this, but everyone's doing their bit to point Prescott in the right direction. Probably the wrong time to call him a sh*t-for-brains lard-*rsed street brawler - we'll save that in case he officially says no to Falmer.

I'm sending this email to every football fan I have an email address for, and would urge everyone else to do the same. If this stadium doesn't happen then we won't have a football club.

Thanks for your time.

Tom

 

[Withnail]

Letters going off later.
As it is down to the council to make the decision on whether to approve the report or not, how about a march or picket of the council offices. I'm sure there's plenty of people who would be willing to stand outside the town hall with a few banners and would also generate a bit of publicity for the cause.

 

[ripper]

This is unbelievable, how many more times!

Come on Prezza, you know you can make at least 62,000 people in B&H very happy

long letter written printed ready for posting at lunchtime

Chin up everybody

 

[aftershavedave]

forgive me for sounding very confused about this, but i really am today. i didn't even know that there were two reports being processed, and to help us do something about this outrage that shows consideration of the facts we need somebody, urgently please (lord b?) to set out in simple layman's terms exactly what has happened. i'm in a bit of a rage here and perhaps that's not helping to understand the circumstances...can somebody help? blasting off mails is one thing, knowing you've hit the target another. HELP PLEASE

 

[Simster]

forgive me for sounding very confused about this, but i really am today. i didn't even know that there were two reports being processed, and to help us do something about this outrage that shows consideration of the facts we need somebody, urgently please (lord b?) to set out in simple layman's terms exactly what has happened. i'm in a bit of a rage here and perhaps that's not helping to understand the circumstances...can somebody help? blasting off mails is one thing, knowing you've hit the target another. HELP PLEASE

I've just logged onto NSC and am in the same boat. Can someone explain please?

 

[London Calling]

i AM A pLANNER AND A REGENERATION CONSULTANT

THE INSPECTOR#S REPORT GOES AGAINGST THE GOVT PRESENT PLANNING GUIDELINES AND PRESCOTT OWN PLANS FOR SUSTAINABLE COMMUNMITIES IN THE SOUTH EAST

THE COUNCIL AS A DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED AUTHORITY CAN IGNORE HIS RECOMMENDATIONS


BUT IT IS OMINOUS THE TWO INSPECTORS ULTIMATELY WORK FOR PRESCOTT

LC

 

[Westdene Seagull]

i AM A pLANNER AND A REGENERATION CONSULTANT

THE INSPECTOR#S REPORT GOES AGAINGST THE GOVT PRESENT PLANNING GUIDELINES AND PRESCOTT OWN PLANS FOR SUSTAINABLE COMMUNMITIES IN THE SOUTH EAST

Thank God for that .... a glimmer of hope !

 

[Yorkie]

Surely this goes against the bid for the Olympics that a sports stadium is being refused permission within 50 miles of the capital city.

Bad publicity for them?

 

[Giant Seagull]

Email sent , Letters going this evening

Family and freinds are on the case too!

 

[Seagoon]

Just hope this helps in some small way...e-mails off to all gooners and supporters of other clubs I can think of, I'll get on the arsenal boards this afternoon.

February 5th, 2004

Dear Mr Prescott,

RE: Falmer Community Stadium Planning Application in Brighton & Hove

I am writing in complete disbelief at the content of the local plan inspector¡¦s report on the 4th February 2004.

I am an active and committed supporter of Arsenal Football Club, and as a result have been lucky enough over the years to witness first hand the importance that a football club holds within a community. I have lived in Brighton for eight years, and since moving here have watched with amazement and admiration as the supporters of Brighton and Hove Albion have demonstrated in the most visible and effective ways possible the importance of the club to their community.

The club too, having been saved from the very brink of extinction by the efforts of countless individuals throughout the area, have demonstrated a focussed and innovative approach to marrying the needs of a football club with the greater requirements of the community it represents.

All of this, therefore, makes the findings of the local plan inspector's report more difficult to understand. Specifically:

„X The report ignores the very real difficulties of finding such a suitable site in the Brighton and Hove area. An exhaustive search has already been conducted over the past 4 years. Falmer is the only suitable location.
„X It does not reflect the overwhelming support for the stadium project at Falmer (as demonstrated by the results of the council's referendum) and the immensely detailed consultation process undertaken before site selection.
„X It does not reflect Brighton and Hove Albion¡¦s need for a new stadium, nor the club's importance both nationally and locally.
„X It ignores the huge number of jobs and opportunities for education and skills training the project would develop in an area where these are much needed.
„X It ignores the application's attention to pioneer sustainable transport to access the site.
„X It ignores the FACT that Falmer has the least environmental impact of any of the initially proposed sites.
„X Last, and by no means least, it refers to Brighton and Hove Albion as a "Provincial Club". The use of the word "provincial" in this way is, at best, disparaging, not just to the football club, but to the city of Brighton and Hove as a whole. The people of Brighton and Hove take great pride in the status and uniqueness of their city, and to have such a crucial issue brushed aside in this way is, frankly, insulting to the community as a whole.

I urge you to consider the overwhelming evidence already presented in favour of the stadium and the overwhelming support it has within the city of Brighton and Hove when considering the findings of this bizarre report.

Yours sincerely,

 

[Hilton]

Thanks!

 

[Mr C]

Someone might object to this, I dunno, but we could start faxing John Prescott too?

The link below enables you to send a fax to him from the web page. I assume he will see it and this is a worthwhile idea? Responses if not please!

Fax John Prescott

 

[Curious Orange]

I've just e-mailed football@bbc.co.uk and requested a mention on Football Focus.

 

[Seagull Stew]

I've just e-mailed football@bbc.co.uk and requested a mention on Football Focus.

Good luck! After the Hutton report, I think the BBC are keeping well clear of anything that might be seen as influencing government decisions!