Falmer Stadium
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| Falmer Stadium | |
|---|---|
| Location | Brighton, East Sussex, England |
| Built | Planning permission granted, 2007 |
| Opened | Scheduled to open in 2010 |
| Owner | Brighton & Hove Albion F.C., Brighton & Hove City Council |
| Operator | Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction cost | £50 million |
| Tenants | Brighton & Hove Albion FC (from 2010) |
| Capacity |
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Falmer Stadium is the temporary generic title of a community football stadium located near the village of Falmer on the outskirts of Brighton and Hove, United Kingdom. The final naming of the stadium is yet to be confirmed. Whether the word 'Falmer' is retained is the subject of much debate.
Planning permission was granted on 24 July 2007. The stadium is planned as a 22,500[1] capacity all-seater stadium, however this could be expanded.[citation needed] The plans were initiated by Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. to locate a new permanent home, after the club's previous home, the Goldstone Ground was sold by its former owners to developers in 1997. Funding of the stadium would be supported by Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. and Brighton and Hove City Council.
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[edit] Road to development
[edit] Choosing the site
The site of the stadium will occupy part of the University of Brighton campus at Falmer and an adjacent vacant field owned by the city of Brighton and Hove. The university has received planning approval for a substantial rebuilding of the campus, and the stadium would replace several outdated campus buildings. Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. have stated an intention to make a substantial contribution to the university's building fund in exchange for the land currently occupied by the university campus.
[edit] Problems with planning
Whilst planning permission was given by the unitary authority (Brighton and Hove) for the redevelopment of the area, the plans for the stadium have been fought extensively by neighbouring Lewes District Council. The stadium itself will lie completely within Brighton and Hove; the vacant field however, straddles across the boundary with Lewes. This land is owned by Brighton and Hove.[citation needed] This straddled field is proposed to be the dedicated park and ride bus parking facility, and is the only part of the planned stadium which will within the boundaries of Lewes.[citation needed]
The complications however go further, as both the vacant fields and the entire campus of the adjacent University of Sussex are included in the South Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. This led to the designation of the stadium plans being the subject to a separate planning inquiry by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
Because the location of the stadium is situated on the edge of Brighton and Hove, the public would be encouraged to use rail and the nearby Falmer railway station as access to the stadium site; there is minimal land available in the surrounding area, and the plan envisions a heavily policed no-parking zone around the stadium on match days. Several existing park-and-ride locations, including one which is attracting controversy in Lewes, will be used for alternative access to the site.
Four years after the original plans were put forward by the "Seagulls" (as the football club is known), John Prescott, then the Deputy Prime Minister, approved the plans on 28 October 2005. The stadium is planned to open in 2010. However, Lewes District Council immediately mounted a new legal challenge to the stadium plan. In April 2006, Prescott admitted that he gave his approval based on the misconception that only a small part of the stadium site lay on the Lewes side, and withdrew it.
Hazel Blears, the secretary of state responsible for planning, re-affirmed the approval on 25 July 2007. Lewes district council, Falmer Parish council and the South Downs Joint Committee (the three main opponents) announced shortly afterwards that they would not mount a high court challenge. On September 4 2007, the deadline for appealing the new grant of permission expired, and the construction of the stadium is therefore very likely to go ahead.
[edit] References
- Details of the stadium plan (most information adapted from this site)
- Lewes District Council's High Court challenge
- [1]
