Stadium plans: Hiccup or the end?

But the news that consultants have branded the proposal in its current format as "unworkable" has now whipped the debate into a frenzy.

For consultants Vantagepoint, it was the financial aspects of the scheme that raised the alarm.

The price tag of the Albion's proposed stadium at Falmer is in the region of £1,700 per seat - something bigger clubs would struggle to afford.

The price is much higher than other Second or Third Division stadiums, according to the consultants called in to examine the proposal.

Second Division Reading built the 25,000 seat Madejski Stadium for less than £1,500 per seat. First Division Bolton paid about the same for the similar sized Reebok Stadium.

For consultants Vantagepoint it was simply too high, forcing them to conclude the club had not paid enough attention to the capital or running costs of the new stadium.

That opinion comes as no surprise to Falmer resident and lifelong Albion fan Tim Cutress.

He said: "It was not in the best interests of the club to pursue this. The whole thing has been promised to supporters, been put back, put back and put back."

It is not the first time he has had reason to doubt the ambitious plan to build a 22,000 seat home for the Albion would get off the ground.

The project was doomed, he believes, from the moment the University of Sussex told the club in January it could not use its campus car parks.

He said: "From that point, to my mind it was a non-starter and they should have bailed out at that time. I think the club have thrown good money after bad.

"I think that was the moment it died and that is my personal opinion as a supporter and a resident."

The university said yesterday it did write to the club in January and car parking was one of the issues raised, but refused to confirm on-campus parking had been ruled out.

Other fans, however, are confident the report is merely a slight setback.

Bill Swallow, a fan for 40 years, said: "I think the situation is over-egged really because the consultants seem to be entirely in favour of the club building at Falmer, which is great news for the club.

"It (Vantagepoint's report) supports the stadium and that is good news and it should not be forgotten."

Albion chairman Dick Knight posted a response to the Argus revelations on the club website.

He said: "The Vantagepoint report recommended a smaller stadium - which shows that they haven't taken into account either the long-term potential of this football club or the wider needs of the community in this conurbation that wants to be a city, but has no modern arena.

"There is no perfect site in the area, which is why the council is backing Falmer as the only realistic location for a Community Stadium in Brighton & Hove - The Argus article failed to convey this council support.

"The Vantagepoint report also amazingly fails to understand that a smaller stadium at Falmer would not make significant savings, because of the substantial infrastructure costs of any stadium on the site, regardless of size."

Despite the Vantagepoint report, the council are committed to the Falmer Stadium.

Councillor Mike Middleton, chairman of the council's stadium working group, said: "We want it go ahead.

"To secure the long-term future of the stadium at Falmer, the football club are working closely with both the council and the universities in developing the funding opportunities that arise from such a partnership.

"The football club has never claimed that it could fund the stadium on its own. What is needed is a joint effort by all the relevant parties, and until the partnership opportunities are fully developed, it is both premature and irresponsible to conclude that the Falmer Stadium is 'unworkable'.

"The club has already spent over £400,000 on our detailed planning application for Falmer - again working closely with the council.

"That's how serious we are about the stadium.

"But, make no mistake, with our application almost completed, it's time for the political parties, the authorities, the prospective partners and the local media to make their minds up.

"Either to get behind the Albion and support our vision of a state-of-the-art stadium for this community, which will also provide a permanent home for the only Football League club in Sussex and allow it to realise its full potential, or they can say no - in which case they are condemning the Albion to always being a second-class, lower-division club."

Stuart Adams, of the East Sussex-based supporters' group the A21 Club, said fans should continue to support the Falmer plan and it was too early to be looking at the detailed finances.

He said: "I have faith in the present board.

"Dick Knight and Martin Perry have proved their worth since they took charge and they are not going to waste £400,000 on a pipe dream.

"They have got faith in it happening and the right business brains to deliver."

Paul Samrah, of the Brighton Independent Supporters' Association, said any funding problems would be overcome and it was too soon to say the project was unworkable.

He said: "It's a hiccup. What the report will actually serve to do is make the parties who want to participate in the project get together and agree to join the party.

Trying to iron out problems with its partners might explain why the club has missed so many deadlines since the stadium was backed in a Brighton and Hove Albion-organised referendum last year.

The first missed deadline was last autumn, when the club did not produce its outline business plan.

The next was last December when the promised planning application for the 22,000-seat stadium failed to appear.

Neither the club nor the council will say when a planning application is expected.

When an outline business plan for the project did emerge in February, it was condemned as unworkable by consultants Vantagepoint.

As revealed in the Argus yesterday they said the stadium should not be pursued in its present form and told the council not to support a planning application without first ordering a radical review of he project.

Vantagepoint has been involved in high-profile stadium schemes such as the new Wembley and the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

The club's main partners, the council and the universities of Brighton and Sussex, are reported to be running out of patience with the Albion.

Neither university will comment beyond saying they will not take a view until a formal planning application has been submitted, although both are believed to have serious reservations about the project as it stands.

Councillors are also reported to be shifting away from supporting the proposal, worried the money is not there and the site is not suitable for the kind of supporting development needed to pay for the stadium.

Scrapping Falmer would certainly delight people in the village, along with the clutch of green groups opposed to building inside the Sussex Downs area of outstanding natural beauty.

John Woodruff, landlord of The Swan pub, where a petition behind the bar opposing the plan has already gathered 2,000 signatures, said the village had already suffered from too much urbanisation.

He said: "Falmer is trying to retain its character as one of the last remaining villages on the edge of Brighton.

"If it has been vetoed by somebody with some sense, then that is a good thing."

He was echoed by Lewes MP Norman Baker, who said: "I think it is important Brighton and Hove have a proper football ground but if that is what the report says I think Brighton and Hove Council need to give serious thought to where it would have to go.

"We don't think Falmer works financially or environmentally and we don't think the council are doing the club any favours if they push ahead with a solution which is going to run into the sand."

Albion fans, meanwhile, were able to take some cheer from Vantagepoint's advice not to walk away from the project altogether.

A smaller stadium would still be possible, they say, and it should still go to the same Falmer site if it is still considered the most suitable.