Enough is enough!
The stadium to be built provides far more benefits to the community at large than does damage to the environment in my opinion.

It is a wonderful modern design, and hardly is inappropriate given that is sits right next to a dual carriageway and the 1960's Ugly university site!

In fact, I'd say to those in Lewes and Falmer who opposed it, when the Albion was in Hove, and also as currently in Falmer, the residents there have had few problems with football fans!

Time to wake up and smell the coffee guys!

I support this stadium for the great benefits it will bring to all in the area, all this rubbish about it having a detrimental effect on the downs is laughable!

p.s. I'm not into football either, but I'd be happy to live next to it!

I suspect another appeal would be a waste of time and money. Looking at the Government's decision letter, I am amazed by the number and extent of conditions attached to the planning approval. That in itself is a victory of sorts for opponents, but the time has come for them to work together with the club.

I repeat what has been said so many times but still keeps being mentioned that the proposed site for the new Community at Falmer is in an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty but I cannot agree. It has been pointed out that so many times that it is next to so many buildings of the two Universities and very close to a main dual carriagway so surely this is now acknowledged to be true.
If it was proposed to build it at The Devils Dyke I would probably join the protestors myself but it is not and will bring a lot of good things to the area.
I have recently read that a spokesperson for Lewes District COuncil has said their outlay of £140000 will be refunded by the Government and would like clarification on this point because if this is the case then surely the Albion is entitled to the same refund of their costs.
Can someone plese enlighten me?
Eric

I think Lewes District Council should appeal and I would back them all the way! Yes the stadium will bring its advantages for the brighton & hove people but not for the people who live there and I am speaking on behalf of all the people who live in falmer and lewes. If you want a stadium built it in your own area and take your sewage works with you. For starters before this stadium even goes ahead the transport system needs to be improved between lewes and brighton. I oppose the stadium and I will keep on fighting and I dont care what ever you brighton scum say. stuff about wasting tax payers money i will give them moneyy to stop the falmer stadium going ahead!!!!!!!!!!

unknown wrote:
I think Lewes District Council should appeal and I would back them all the way! Yes the stadium will bring its advantages for the brighton & hove people but not for the people who live there and I am speaking on behalf of all the people who live in falmer and lewes. If you want a stadium built it in your own area and take your sewage works with you. For starters before this stadium even goes ahead the transport system needs to be improved between lewes and brighton. I oppose the stadium and I will keep on fighting and I dont care what ever you brighton scum say. stuff about wasting tax payers money i will give them moneyy to stop the falmer stadium going ahead!!!!!!!!!!

It's just as well, then that the people of Lewes don't want a stadium because, barring a coach park in LDC land (that's in your district - not in your town) the stadium will be in Brighton and Hove land. Tell me you did know this please - I mean, I'd hate to think I was addressing yet another anti who thinks that arming themselves with the facts gets in the way of a good rant.

Nice to see also that you appoint yourself as speaking for all of the area. Was this a democratic decision or did you have the 'my little despot' suit hanging up in your wardrobe and decided to give it an airing?

I think the fact that you don't care what others say (I'll ignore the 'scum' reference) reveals your intellect, your tolerance, your ability to engage in sensible and rational discussion and why your views are to be ignored.

Off you go now, Colonel Blimp. Your Daily Mail should be arriving soon.

I'm all for the Stadium provided the fans cannot go wandering onto the Uni Campus and don't come wandering into the Pond area and Church.

GW wrote:
I'm all for the Stadium provided the fans cannot go wandering onto the Uni Campus and don't come wandering into the Pond area and Church.

So-law abiding, decent people aren't allowed to WALK around Falmer 'village'? What on earth makes you think football fans want to be anywhere near you idiots who live in cloud cuckoo land?

GW wrote:
I\'m all for the Stadium provided the fans cannot go wandering onto the Uni Campus and don\'t come wandering into the Pond area and Church.

I've just read your comment again and it's made me angry. What gives people like you the right to suggest normal, law abiding people be excluded from any public place in this country simply because they are in town to watch a football match?

Please explain why football fans shouldn't go 'wandering into the pond area'? What the hell do you think they are likely to do? You have one pub run by a bigoted snob and no right minded football fan wll want to spend their money with him. Are you afraid that we'll all see your 'village' for the lie that it is?

Please understand this-we have no desire to wander anywhere near you people but you have no right whatsoever to suggest we be excluded from walking around 'because you don't want us to'.

Please note that the Lewes District Council, as part of its function and duties as Planning authority HAS to spend money on public inquiries, and did so in the three inquiries on the stadium. It was John Prescott's flawed decision that wasted the extra costs, and the High Court recognized this and quashed his decision on all nine points. That 'John Prescott" appeal money is being reimbursed to Lewes District Council, who spent the money getting the matter put right.
Note also that Wind Farms five times size of the Glyndebourne turbine are allowed in AONBs- there are rules about how many and where- but a stadium isn't. The turbine will protect the environment -not the reverse- by reducing carbon- that's why people put them up!
Finally, as for campaigning for the stadium, the Conservatives joined the Lib Dems on the Lewes Council to appeal John Prescott's decision- it was a cross-party decision. The official Conservative policy in Lewes District was to oppose John Prescott's decision.

pEter GardinPe wrote:
Please note that the Lewes District Council, as part of its function and duties as Planning authority HAS to spend money on public inquiries, and did so in the three inquiries on the stadium. It was John Prescott\'s flawed decision that wasted the extra costs, and the High Court recognized this and quashed his decision on all nine points. That \'John Prescott\" appeal money is being reimbursed to Lewes District Council, who spent the money getting the matter put right. Note also that Wind Farms five times size of the Glyndebourne turbine are allowed in AONBs- there are rules about how many and where- but a stadium isn\'t. The turbine will protect the environment -not the reverse- by reducing carbon- that\'s why people put them up! Finally, as for campaigning for the stadium, the Conservatives joined the Lib Dems on the Lewes Council to appeal John Prescott\'s decision- it was a cross-party decision. The official Conservative policy in Lewes District was to oppose John Prescott\'s decision.

Can you also explain why the Tories opposed John Prescott’s South Downs National Park scheme, I doubt it, because if the truth were known, the Tories vigorously opposed everything John Prescott had a hand in, simply because he was a Union man with a working class background that he was proud of and never attempted to disguise, so therefore the Tories opposition was and always will be based on CLASS RELATED grounds.

Being brought up in Falmer from the age of 18 months, and being someone who has literally hand planted and worked on the farm land that is in question I have closer contact with the territory than most. Having also worked behind the bar at the old Concorde serving beer to the Football Club at it meetings as it went through the Goldstone horror I have also been a first hand witness to the travesties that the club has endured over the years. Since I left school I have lived in Brighton and many of my close friends have been supporters of the club so obviously we have had to park the discussion about Falmer since it is such an emotionally charged issue that there clearly was never going to be a rational an logical agreement between the parties. It literally has been a 'turf war'. I am pleased to say though that we rose above this one issue to remain friends. Football and ‘turf’ are not important enough to loose friends over.

It is sad, however, that there is only one openly biased journalistic viewpoint in Brighton since, if everything the Argus wrote was to be believed, those generations of people in Falmer who have an objection to having their village cut in half, developed, redeveloped and chewed up by the urban sprawl of Brighton, are all mad ‘nimbies’. It is also interesting to note that while far smaller, Falmer historically pre-dates Brighton, and many of the families in the village have been there for hundreds of years. It’s therefore hardly surprising that these so called 'nimbies' are defensive about having their way of life encroached upon by all and any developments – its not an anti football thing.

Indeed you may or may not be surprised to know but over my life my family, and the villagers in Falmer have fought dozens of planning applications for development in and around Falmer in an attempt to preserve their way of life and maintain a distinct boundary between their village and Brighton’s sprawl. It is hardly surprising that they feel 'trodden on' if you look at Falmer now and compare it to when I was a kid: it has been treated as if it wasn't there. It has always been the path of least resistance for green-field development since, by chance, the people of Falmer are not directly represented in Brighton because the boundary between Brighton and Lewes passes between the Village and the proposed development site. This actually made it an easier (despite the 10 year battle) target than Water-hall, Sheepcote or Toad Hole etc.. (‘scuze my spelling)

While there are planning proposals that state that the village will be left intact, and even others that seem not to know about the beautiful and ancient village and think that the university sites ARE Falmer, it is simple to see why the people there have fought so long to preserve their homes and lives, and most importantly the sense of rural country life that has been at the heart of the community in Falmer for many centuries. Now that rural life is going to be directly adjacent to that most Modern of things: A football stadium. No one in their right mind can possibly deny that this is a harsh juxtaposition. No more than building a Portsmouth Stadium in Hove would fit. That much is a simple fact. And while the visitors to the stadium will return to the sanctity of their homes elsewhere, the inhabitants of Falmer will remain juxtaposed to this development. Fancy an airport in your garden???

However, and trying to be considerate of the opposite point of view, I have to agree that, in the failing days of any other community spirit, Football is at least something that can give communities something to 'commune' with. In areas of urban deprivation this may be a positive thing. Although having traveled the country – to many areas of real urban deprivation - producing the live TV and video Conference League coverage for three years I have also regularly seen the very worst side of people that fanatical support can bring out when two communities violently clash over their choice of football team. It is this 'tribalism' that threatens some people, while simultaneously joining others. If you are on the outside of this 'tribe' it is very scary. Particularly if you are a small group who feel that you are not being listened to or considered – perhaps an analogy for the people in Falmer.

The aggressive viewpoints put forward in some discussions, particularly the one sided journalistic 'campaign' that has been whitewashed over Brighton by the Argus, has only served to entrench those in defence of their communities (on both sides). This is not, in my view, a way forward for either side. Falmer has become an obsession for Argus readers and Seagulls fans and I truly believe that better locations were missed and better options not taken simply because the 'pack' had already decided on Falmer and that was that.Tow the line or be relegated….

Finally, I also have to add, that for those who still think that Falmer has no beauty if it doesn’t have a stadium, and for those that simply can't see why the residents have an issue I say this: When I was a kid I lived in Falmer, in my mind in the country, a long way from Brighton. If the stadium ever does get to be built there then Falmer will have become a 'roundabout at the entrance to the car park for the Stadium'. It’s hardly surprising that the community there have fought to retain their dignity, livelihoods and community.

The Seagulls will, and has survived – the lack of stadium hasn’t killed off that over the past decade..

Falmer may be on the point of being lost forever and it will be irreplaceable. You will never convince me that football is as great as the countryside where I was bought up.

And not that it really matters to anyone else but I will never be able to bring my self to enter the stadium.

I am sure you understand.

Lewes-1
Just like to say that unknown speaks for Lewes minus 1 as I'd like to indulge in the advantages.
LDC
I do agree LDC should appeal and have my full backing as I need at least three years to save up for a family season ticket (2 plus 3).
"scum"
I oppose your use of "Brighton scum" as I'm a member of the "Lewes scum" as are my children and feel left out as I guess the Hassocks, Burgess Hill, Worthing, Shoreham, Eastbourne, Crawley, Crowborough etc. "scum" will also, perhaps we could agree on a more generic insult how about dumb person with a life long interest in football who wants to take his children to a safe state of the art stadia to pass on his love of a sport? But then I guess the families of Falmer residents would like to pass on the art of dog walking in ploughed fields. (sorry felt the need to throw one back).
Stadium in own area
Sorry garden not big enough as awaiting planning consent from LDC for airport.
Transport between Lewes and Brighton
Overdue for improvement regardless of stadium and would probably mean destroying more ploughed fields.
AONB
I feel for the residents of Falmer as no one likes to be shouted down as I'm sure it's feeling at the moment but I'm not seeing the arguments other than disruption on match days. As for AONB depending on the direction you look at the moment you could see either AONB or tarmac/concrete so surely when the stadium is built you could look in the direction of AONB as you do now?
LDC
Now I understand the need for parking fees in the streets of Lewes, feel free to spend my council tax as you see fit but please don't tax me twice to pay for a lost cause and remember we all have wants and needs not just a few near the boundries perhaps a cycle path between Ringmer and Lewes as promised in the planning permission for the Forge housing develpoment but as yet not delivered!!.