Falmer Stadium

Infobox_Stadium
stadium_name = Falmer Stadium
nickname = | Falmer

fullname =
location = Brighton, East Sussex, England
built = Planning permission granted, 2007
opened = Scheduled to open in August 2011
general_contractor= Buckingham
renovated =
closed =
demolished =
owner = Brighton & Hove Albion F.C., Brighton and Hove City Council
operator = Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.
surface = Grass
construction_cost = £60 million
architect =
former_names =
tenants = Brighton & Hove Albion FC (from 2011)
seating_capacity = 22,500
dimensions =

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 debate.

Planning permission was granted on 24 July 2007. The stadium is planned as a 22,500 [ [http://www.lewes.gov.uk/council/11443.asp Lewes District Council: 24 July 2007: Countryside loses out in Falmer decision ] ] capacity all-seater stadium, however this could be expanded.Fact|date=July 2007 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.

Road to development

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has received planning approval for a substantial rebuilding of the campus, and the stadium would replace several outdated campus buildings.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.

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.Fact|date=July 2007 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.Fact|date=July 2007

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 coerced to use rail and the nearby Falmer railway station as access to the stadium site in line with the authority's anti-car policies; despite plenty of open land available in the surrounding area inadequate parking provision has been specified, 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 4 September 2007, the deadline for appealing the new grant of permission expired, and the construction of the stadium is therefore scheduled to start in December 2008.

The morning of 15 September 2008 saw local Brighton newspaper The Argus compile a front page report, claiming that the site of the new stadium would need to be almost doubled in size. Martin Perry, Brighton and Hove Albion Stadium project manager confirmed that changes to the original application have had to be made. "changes in legislation have resulted in a huge increase in the space needed for circulation — including the concourse areas. This means internally, the stadium has been completely redesigned but on the same footprint."

Perry also confirmed, that although changes have been made, the application has "no chance" of being called in by the government for intervention, due to the size, principle or capacity not being altered. Perry did however insist that the application for minor alterations had to be approved by Brighton And Hove City Council, and was optimistic of this being agreed.

On 2 October 2008 Brighton & Hove Albion announced that the stadium's opening has been put back to August 2011. Chairman Dick Knight explained, "We were already working to an extremely tight timescale, and factors beyond our control - namely the updated and new planning applications we have to get passed because of new legislation, and timing access problems to part of the stadium construction site - will delay us by several months. Therefore we have reluctantly made the decision to put the project back by one season." [ [http://www.seagulls.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Stadium/0,,10433~1409886,00.html] ]

As it stands the first work on site at the Community Stadium at Falmer will go ahead as scheduled in December 2008.

Design

The stadium is set 3 storeys down into the ground. 138,000 cubic metres of chalk will be excavated for its construction, which will be put on the field on the other side of village way.

Future projected timeline

December 2008 - Excavation starts to enable widening of Village Way.
April 2009 - Main excavation for the stadium.
September 2009 - Foundations and substructure put in place.
December 2009 - Structural steel will begin to appear out of the ground.
May 2011 - Contract completion.
August 2011 - Stadium opened. [ [http://avdownload.premiumtv.co.uk:8129/brightonfc/freecontent/KnightPerryStadiumUpdate.wma []

ee also

* Ground improvements at English football Stadia

References

* [http://www.clubsincrisis.com/BrightonReasons.asp Details of the stadium plan] (most information adapted from this site)
* [http://www.lewes.gov.uk/council/6931.asp Lewes District Council's High Court challenge]
* [http://www.seagulls.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Stadium/0,,10433~1092464,00.html]