Some of the correspondents to your letters page who favour building a stadium in protected countryside appear a bit muddled.

Councillor Warren Morgan (October 5) should note it was not I who suggested Sheepcote as a site for the stadium but the club itself when, for a four-figure sum, it commissioned a report in late 2004 into the possibility of a combined stadium and hotel.

Their consultants concluded Sheepcote was a better site than Falmer.

In an email to them, Martin Perry said the information on Sheepcote was "very interesting". I appreciate Coun Morgan may not have seen the report, as the club did not mention it in the public inquiry (which reconvened shortly afterwards) but instead maintained there was no possible alternative site to Falmer.

And it is a bit rich for Daniel Yates to complain Lewes District Council (LDC) has had all its legal costs to date met by the Government (October 6).

For months, supporters of Falmer stadium have been complaining LDC was running up a huge legal bill. Now we know there is no bill for local taxpayers, because the Government got it wrong - which, of course, wouldn't have come out if LDC had not pursued its case.

Incidentally, can someone tell me how much local taxpayers' money Brighton and Hove City Council has spent on matters related to the Falmer stadium application?

Curiously, those apparently interested in the good use of council funds never seem to ask that question.

  • Norman Baker MP