Letter: How can we exercise without sports fields?

As already described, there may well be pollution to ground water supplies from oil-based run off. However, there will be two other casualties of the scheme.

There are currently three bus routes from Brighton to Horsham, Haywards Heath and Crawley respectively.

What future will they have once a park-and-ride is built?

There will be little incentive for private operators or West Sussex County Council to run these routes if are tempted into their cars to use the park-and-ride.

To paraphrase the Minister for Transport, there is no valid reason to move air from one place to another.

The same will be true for local rail services once car drivers realise they can drive around the by-pass to the park-and-ride rather than

use the train.

It would be better in this case to investigate congestion charging, as the cities of Manchester and Edinburgh are doing and use

the money raised to invest in better public transport.

The other casualty will be the loss of the public amenity for footballers and cricketers at Braypool.

Under PFI, school playing fields have become increasingly expensive to hire. There are some council facilities and some pitches are of a very good standard.

Others are appallingly kept. All in all, there is a shortage of pitches at peak times.

Braypool, however, provides a value-for-money site for many people to get exercise.

Our cricket club has found it increasingly difficult to find grounds where we can practice and play in and around Brighton.

The loss of these three excellent cricket squares would make the situation much worse.

We have the ludicrous situation where central government is trying to persuade us out of our cars to get more exercise and to use public transport to reduce global warming, while we have our local council, of the same political hue, considering tarmacing over a large playing field so more people will be encouraged to use their cars.

-Nick Hearn, Brighton