BRIGHTON NEEDS YOUR HELP DEPOR FANS - Deportivo-La-Coruna.com Forum

alan partridge · 05-02-2004, 16:11

I know I post lots of daft things about Brighton but this one is deadly serious

The story is too long to go into great detail here. In short: we almost dropped out of the English football league 8 years ago. This was at the same time that some scum bag business man sold our home stadium without telling the fans and left us homeless. We protested and we got him out. However we spent 2 seasons in exile playing in a ground 75 miles away from Brighton. Our new chairman got us back to Brighton but in a small temporary stadium. We wanted to build a new stadium but it was opposed by a minority of residents so it had to go to a very expensive public inquiry. The inquiry went well and we thought we would receive a positive decision very soon......until yesterday

ONE MAN (local plan inspector) has opposed the stadium. He has ignored all the important issues of the project and the wishes of the people of Brighton. His report could be important, but in the end the final decision will rest with the Deputy Prime Minister.

You may not know much about Brighton, but many of us are big fans of depor. We see you as our cousins in blue and white stripes playing by the sea. So, please take one minute of your time away from thinking about the Champions League and the top of the Liga and help out a club that just wants a home of its own.

Please just copy and paste the following letter and email it to - planning.general@odpm.gsi.gov.uk

you can also post it to this address -
Mr John Prescott,
Deputy Prime Minister
26 Whitehall
London
SW1A 2WH

here's the letter

Your Name
Your Address

Date

Dear Mr Prescott,

I am writing to you concerning the Public Inquiry into a stadium at Falmer, Brighton which you are currently overseeing.

Of particular note, I would like to highlight some important issues that appear to have been overlooked in the Local Plan Inspector’s report relating to Brighton & Hove’s Local Plan.

1. The report does not recognise the very real difficulties of finding a suitable site in the Brighton & Hove area.

2. The report does not reflect the overwhelming public support for the stadium project at Falmer and the detailed consultation process that took place prior to selecting the site

The planning application clearly demonstrated:

- the need Brighton & Hove Albion have for a new stadium

- evidence of the national importance of Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club

- the huge number of jobs and opportunities for education and skills training that would be provided by the proposed development

- an innovative sustainable transport scheme

- that the site at Falmer had the least impact of any of the very few potential sites for a stadium in the Brighton & Hove area

I trust you will not overlook the evidence provided at the Public Inquiry, the bulk of which seems to have been ignored by the Local Plan Inspector in his report, and finally give the people of Brighton and Hove the sporting facility it is so desperately missing.

Yours sincerely,

alan partridge · 05-02-2004, 17:17

hello again

here's some more information on the situation

If any of you have some friends or contacts you've not emailed yet, and maybe they don't really fully understand whats been going on here, then perhaps this could be cut n' pasted and sent to them...I'm going to try to send this to as many football clubs as I can anyway. Sorry its a bit lengthy, but it pretty much covers whats happened....

The plight of Brighton & Hove Albion

Ever since the sale of Brightons Goldstone Ground in 1997 by unscrupulous businessmen, out to make a buck on the sale of the site to retail outlets (the old Goldstone site now houses, amongst other things, a Comets, Toys R Us, and a Burger King), the club and its fans have been battling in a constant struggle for survival. The Albion somehow managed to retain its League status by the skin of its teeth (goal difference !) the season the ground was sold, but two miserable years in exile followed playing at Gillinghams ground, while new chairman Dick Knight fought to get the club back to Brighton.

After extensive negotiations, and under numerous stringent conditions, in August 1999 the Albion were eventually allowed to return back to Brighton and play at a rented athletics track known as Withdean Stadium. This was under the provision that it would be a temporary arrangement, as the facilities at Withdean, although upgraded by the Albion, were totally inadequate to sustain a Football League club in the long term. Withdean has a capacity of 7,000, and is made up of temporary stands on two sides, with no roof covering, and one small roofed stand along the side of the pitch. It is tightly hemmed in by a nature reserve and residential housing. Upon moving to Withdean, Dick Knight and the Chief Executive Martin Perry, initiatated a comprehensive planning application for a new state-of-the-art, 22,500 all seater purpose-built community stadium, to be constructed in between the Brighton and Sussex Universities, on a disused field immediatly next to the A27 at Falmer, on the outskirts of Brighton.

Despite the careful design of the stadium to blend in with the environment, and innovative plans to allow use of the stadium with the minimum of disruption, the residents of the nearby Falmer village, along with Lewes District Council, objected to the plans. In 2001, the project was called in for a full Public Enquiry. The Enquiry eventually commenced in February 2003, where both sides presented their arguments for and against the clubs plans. Detailed studies of all aspects of the plan were presented and backed up with evidence by various experts, from transport, lighting, impact on wildlife, parking, etc. The Enquiry was finally concluded in October 2003, and the Government Inspector went away to compile his report and recommendatons for John Prescott to make a decision on whether or not to give the go-ahead to the stadium.

On the eve of the decision on the stadium plans, and to our horror, the Local Planning Inspector at the Enquiry, Charles Hoile, has released a report saying he feels that the Falmer site is unsuitable for the stadium. Ignoring the extensive and exhaustive professional evidence to the contrary, presented at the Enquiry by a series of experts, Mr Hoile suggests that the club instead explore the possibilities of several other sites (one including Withdean) which were already thoroughly investigated and rejected as totally unworkable during the planning stage. Mr Hoile goes on to cast doubt as to the real need for a purpose-built stadium for what he dismissively refers to as a "provincial city's professional football club". In doing so, Mr Hoile is discarding the wishes of in excess of 60,000 people who voted "yes" to the stadium plans in a referendum (a two-thirds majority), and is flying in the face of an 11-1 majority vote in favour of the plans by a democratically elected council.

If Mr Prescott goes along with Mr Hoile's observations, then the consequences for Brighton & Hove Albion will be utterly dire. This will undoubtedly mean that Brighton & Hove Albion will cease to exist in the very near future. The limitations at Withdean are well documented, and the financial and logistical restrictions placed on the Albion at this temporary home mean that the club would simply not be able to sustain itself. After 103 years, professional football in Sussex would be lost forever. It is absolutely crucial that, unlike Mr Hoile, Mr Prescott take into account the facts that have been presented at the Public Enquiry, before arriving at his decision.

The fate of Brighton & Hove Albion is now in John Prescotts hands. Make no mistake, we will live or die by the decision he arrives at in the near future over the granting of the Community Stadium. Right now, hundreds and hundreds of Albion fans are busy writing and emailing letters to John Prescott, imploring him to give the plans the go-ahead, and not to merely base his decision on Mr Hoiles questionable findings. I am writing to you to further raise the profile of our plight, increase peoples awareness of what this is all about, and to ask for your support in whatever ways you can offer. If you can find the time, please please write to Mr Prescott in support of the plans for Brightons new stadium. Post messages on your clubs messageboards. Make the fans of your club aware of our situation, as this could happen to any club, anywhere. The address is:

Mr John Prescott
26 Whitehall
London
SW1A 2WH

or email

planning.general@odpm.gsi.gov.uk

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Any message to Mr Prescott, no matter how brief, could help our cause SO MUCH.

Xoán · 05-02-2004, 17:19

Mr Prescott... here I come!

alan partridge · 05-02-2004, 17:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xoán

Mr Prescott... here I come!

You're a star Xoan. Thankyou.

Anymore????

Feliuk · 05-02-2004, 19:01

yep, count me in

Ekholm · 06-02-2004, 14:53

I've send him the letter!! Good luck!

alan partridge · 06-02-2004, 15:11

thanks guys

much appreciated

06-02-2004, 19:10

My English team is Southend but I'm supporting you on this one!

anuroc · 06-02-2004, 20:57

I've just sent it

Anton · 07-02-2004, 10:22

i will too - i like brighton and albion hove - well thats what they are called on LMA when my brother played with them...

he brought them to premier league from div
3!!

GO BRIGHTON!!

alan partridge · 07-02-2004, 11:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anton

i will too - i like brighton and albion hove - well thats what they are called on LMA when my brother played with them...

he brought them to premier league from div
3!!

GO BRIGHTON!!

indeed anton, thats our full name. thanks for your help everyone, but KEEP EM COMING!

just as an update, today we play away at wycombe wanderers. the fans are planning a sit in protest at the end of the game (i think our ticket allocation is 2000). sky and the bbc will be reporting on it. other plans include singing one song for the whole game (even if a goal is scored) : 'WE WANT FALMER'
fans are also sending flowers to john prescott (well it is valentines soon), various media have been bombarded with letters/emails asking for support and many other clubs are helping out.
there's an online petition here
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Falmer/petition-sign.html
if you also want to sign that that would be great

charlton fans have promised to take some banners supporting our cause to the live televised game with chelsea this sunday (vin where are you?)

so send of an email if you haven't guys. it will take you 30 seconds and will help us out. a letter aswell would be great but anything you can...

many thanks

anuroc · 07-02-2004, 12:33

2080 Signatures Total

it seems you're making some noise

alan partridge · 07-02-2004, 12:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by anuroc

2080 Signatures Total

it seems you're making some noise

indeed anuroc. the thing is we are well experienced at this kind of thing

www.clubsincrisis.com is run by brighton fans. lots more news there of other clubs in troule

Leon · 07-02-2004, 15:57

Done!

Mattias · 07-02-2004, 16:18

Email sent.

05-02-2004, 16:11	#1
alan partridge Regular Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 718	BRIGHTON NEEDS YOUR HELP DEPOR FANS I know I post lots of daft things about Brighton but this one is deadly serious The story is too long to go into great detail here. In short: we almost dropped out of the English football league 8 years ago. This was at the same time that some scum bag business man sold our home stadium without telling the fans and left us homeless. We protested and we got him out. However we spent 2 seasons in exile playing in a ground 75 miles away from Brighton. Our new chairman got us back to Brighton but in a small temporary stadium. We wanted to build a new stadium but it was opposed by a minority of residents so it had to go to a very expensive public inquiry. The inquiry went well and we thought we would receive a positive decision very soon......until yesterday ONE MAN (local plan inspector) has opposed the stadium. He has ignored all the important issues of the project and the wishes of the people of Brighton. His report could be important, but in the end the final decision will rest with the Deputy Prime Minister. You may not know much about Brighton, but many of us are big fans of depor. We see you as our cousins in blue and white stripes playing by the sea. So, please take one minute of your time away from thinking about the Champions League and the top of the Liga and help out a club that just wants a home of its own. Please just copy and paste the following letter and email it to - planning.general@odpm.gsi.gov.uk you can also post it to this address - Mr John Prescott, Deputy Prime Minister 26 Whitehall London SW1A 2WH here's the letter Your Name Your Address Date Dear Mr Prescott, I am writing to you concerning the Public Inquiry into a stadium at Falmer, Brighton which you are currently overseeing. Of particular note, I would like to highlight some important issues that appear to have been overlooked in the Local Plan Inspector’s report relating to Brighton & Hove’s Local Plan. 1. The report does not recognise the very real difficulties of finding a suitable site in the Brighton & Hove area. 2. The report does not reflect the overwhelming public support for the stadium project at Falmer and the detailed consultation process that took place prior to selecting the site The planning application clearly demonstrated: - the need Brighton & Hove Albion have for a new stadium - evidence of the national importance of Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club - the huge number of jobs and opportunities for education and skills training that would be provided by the proposed development - an innovative sustainable transport scheme - that the site at Falmer had the least impact of any of the very few potential sites for a stadium in the Brighton & Hove area I trust you will not overlook the evidence provided at the Public Inquiry, the bulk of which seems to have been ignored by the Local Plan Inspector in his report, and finally give the people of Brighton and Hove the sporting facility it is so desperately missing. Yours sincerely, __________________

05-02-2004, 17:17	#2
alan partridge Regular Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 718	hello again here's some more information on the situation If any of you have some friends or contacts you've not emailed yet, and maybe they don't really fully understand whats been going on here, then perhaps this could be cut n' pasted and sent to them...I'm going to try to send this to as many football clubs as I can anyway. Sorry its a bit lengthy, but it pretty much covers whats happened.... The plight of Brighton & Hove Albion Ever since the sale of Brightons Goldstone Ground in 1997 by unscrupulous businessmen, out to make a buck on the sale of the site to retail outlets (the old Goldstone site now houses, amongst other things, a Comets, Toys R Us, and a Burger King), the club and its fans have been battling in a constant struggle for survival. The Albion somehow managed to retain its League status by the skin of its teeth (goal difference !) the season the ground was sold, but two miserable years in exile followed playing at Gillinghams ground, while new chairman Dick Knight fought to get the club back to Brighton. After extensive negotiations, and under numerous stringent conditions, in August 1999 the Albion were eventually allowed to return back to Brighton and play at a rented athletics track known as Withdean Stadium. This was under the provision that it would be a temporary arrangement, as the facilities at Withdean, although upgraded by the Albion, were totally inadequate to sustain a Football League club in the long term. Withdean has a capacity of 7,000, and is made up of temporary stands on two sides, with no roof covering, and one small roofed stand along the side of the pitch. It is tightly hemmed in by a nature reserve and residential housing. Upon moving to Withdean, Dick Knight and the Chief Executive Martin Perry, initiatated a comprehensive planning application for a new state-of-the-art, 22,500 all seater purpose-built community stadium, to be constructed in between the Brighton and Sussex Universities, on a disused field immediatly next to the A27 at Falmer, on the outskirts of Brighton. Despite the careful design of the stadium to blend in with the environment, and innovative plans to allow use of the stadium with the minimum of disruption, the residents of the nearby Falmer village, along with Lewes District Council, objected to the plans. In 2001, the project was called in for a full Public Enquiry. The Enquiry eventually commenced in February 2003, where both sides presented their arguments for and against the clubs plans. Detailed studies of all aspects of the plan were presented and backed up with evidence by various experts, from transport, lighting, impact on wildlife, parking, etc. The Enquiry was finally concluded in October 2003, and the Government Inspector went away to compile his report and recommendatons for John Prescott to make a decision on whether or not to give the go-ahead to the stadium. On the eve of the decision on the stadium plans, and to our horror, the Local Planning Inspector at the Enquiry, Charles Hoile, has released a report saying he feels that the Falmer site is unsuitable for the stadium. Ignoring the extensive and exhaustive professional evidence to the contrary, presented at the Enquiry by a series of experts, Mr Hoile suggests that the club instead explore the possibilities of several other sites (one including Withdean) which were already thoroughly investigated and rejected as totally unworkable during the planning stage. Mr Hoile goes on to cast doubt as to the real need for a purpose-built stadium for what he dismissively refers to as a "provincial city's professional football club". In doing so, Mr Hoile is discarding the wishes of in excess of 60,000 people who voted "yes" to the stadium plans in a referendum (a two-thirds majority), and is flying in the face of an 11-1 majority vote in favour of the plans by a democratically elected council. If Mr Prescott goes along with Mr Hoile's observations, then the consequences for Brighton & Hove Albion will be utterly dire. This will undoubtedly mean that Brighton & Hove Albion will cease to exist in the very near future. The limitations at Withdean are well documented, and the financial and logistical restrictions placed on the Albion at this temporary home mean that the club would simply not be able to sustain itself. After 103 years, professional football in Sussex would be lost forever. It is absolutely crucial that, unlike Mr Hoile, Mr Prescott take into account the facts that have been presented at the Public Enquiry, before arriving at his decision. The fate of Brighton & Hove Albion is now in John Prescotts hands. Make no mistake, we will live or die by the decision he arrives at in the near future over the granting of the Community Stadium. Right now, hundreds and hundreds of Albion fans are busy writing and emailing letters to John Prescott, imploring him to give the plans the go-ahead, and not to merely base his decision on Mr Hoiles questionable findings. I am writing to you to further raise the profile of our plight, increase peoples awareness of what this is all about, and to ask for your support in whatever ways you can offer. If you can find the time, please please write to Mr Prescott in support of the plans for Brightons new stadium. Post messages on your clubs messageboards. Make the fans of your club aware of our situation, as this could happen to any club, anywhere. The address is: Mr John Prescott 26 Whitehall London SW1A 2WH or email planning.general@odpm.gsi.gov.uk Thanks for taking the time to read this. Any message to Mr Prescott, no matter how brief, could help our cause SO MUCH. __________________

05-02-2004, 17:19	#3
Xoán Administrator Peña Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: 42º26'N, 8º38'W Posts: 4,070	Mr Prescott... here I come! __________________ The fellowship was a brief beginning, a fair time that cannot be forgotten; and because it will not be forgotten, that fair time may come again. Now once more I must ride with my knights to defend what was, and the dream of what could be.

05-02-2004, 19:01	#5
Feliuk Administrator Peña Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Watford, England & La Coruña Posts: 12,639	yep, count me in __________________

06-02-2004, 15:11	#7
alan partridge Regular Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 718	thanks guys much appreciated __________________

06-02-2004, 14:53	#6
Ekholm Veteran Peña Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Sweden Posts: 5,221	I've send him the letter!! Good luck!

06-02-2004, 19:10	#8
Robinho Posts: n/a	My English team is Southend but I'm supporting you on this one!

06-02-2004, 20:57	#9
anuroc Super-Seasoned Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: A Coruña Posts: 2,956	I've just sent it __________________ Ante todo mucha calma

07-02-2004, 10:22	#10
Anton Site Team Peña Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Blue Mountains, Sydney, Australia Posts: 4,110	i will too - i like brighton and albion hove - well thats what they are called on LMA when my brother played with them... he brought them to premier league from div 3!! GO BRIGHTON!! __________________ .................................. *SOCCEROOS-YOU DID US ALL PROUD! NEVER SAY NEVER!!* GERMANY '06!** ..................Peña member no.30 - DEPOR PROUD!! ..................

07-02-2004, 12:33	#12
anuroc Super-Seasoned Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: A Coruña Posts: 2,956	2080 Signatures Total it seems you're making some noise __________________ Ante todo mucha calma

07-02-2004, 15:57	#14
Leon Administrator Peña Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands Posts: 8,650	Done! __________________ Pearl Jam: Ten (1991) \| Vs (1993 \| Vitalogy (1994) \| No Code (1996) \| Yield (1998) \| Binaural (2000) \| Riot Act (2002) \| Pearl Jam (2006) \| Backspacer (2009)

07-02-2004, 16:18	#15
Mattias Senior Member Peña Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Swindon, U.K. Posts: 4,432	Email sent. __________________

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