Lord Bracknell
On fire
My report ...
After a month’s break, everyone was back at Brighton Town Hall to resume the Inquiry. It was to be another day of transport evidence, this time from Lewes District Council’s consultant, Tony Harrison.
But first thoughts were all about health. Mr Harrison’s appearance had been delayed because of his earlier illness. How was he today? “Much better”, he told me, and cheered by the recent form of his team, Preston North End. Hmmm, I thought. But at least the Inquiry could move forward.
And then we heard of another injury. Jonathan Clay, the Albion’s lawyer and key striker, was having trouble with his back. All he’d done was lean forward to pick up a copy of Tony Harrison’s evidence and something had suddenly given way. What is it about our team at this stage in the season?
A quick message was sent to Malcolm Stuart, the Seagulls’ physio, summoning him to bring what the Inspector described as the magic sponge. While we waited, proceedings got underway.
Tony Harrison was there to tell the Inquiry that Sheepcote Valley and Toads Hole Valley were both fully compatible with the government’s policies on sustainable development. More people could walk to either site than Falmer and more people would cycle, particularly since the Council were spending lots of money on new cycle routes. Cars could be easily parked in Madeira Drive or at the Marina.
The Albion’s fears about traffic chaos were unfounded, since people would spread their travel times if pre-match entertainment could be laid on and post-match refreshments sold. The Premier League had done a survey of fans that proved this was the case. Anyway, the stadium would only be full on two or three occasions each season.
As always with transport experts, we were given lots of numbers. 34 buses an hour to Sheepcote Valley, lots of buses going near Toads Hole Valley. Well, within an easy two mile walk of Toads Hole Valley. Two per cent of spectators likely to use their bikes to get to matches. Lots of spare buses available.
Jonathan Clay rose to cross-examine Mr Harrison, just as Malcolm Stuart arrived. The Inspector, being a reasonable referee, asked if Jonathan wanted time to fix his back. And so we all had a forty minute coffee break.
When Jonathan was ready to resume, he’d been wired up with what looked like a remote control unit that only Malcolm understood. What it was supposed to do is a mystery, but it seemed to work. Maybe it’s a gadget that Jake Robinson has been secretly testing at a government research establishment near Aldershot. Whatever, it’s a fancy bit of kit. The Inspector looked disappointed that it wasn’t the traditional bucket and sponge.
The rest of us settled back to watch Mr Clay in action. Systematically and carefully, he led Tony Harrison through his own evidence and the government policy documents that define what sustainable development is.
As a transport expert, Mr Harrison thought he knew all about policy on transport. There was a “hierarchy of modes” that put walking and cycling at the top and single occupancy car travel way down at the bottom. The best development sites were those that provided convenient access on foot. But what was being forgotten was that there was another government policy document on sport and recreation, that recognised that football stadiums served large catchment areas and were therefore not like other developments.
Walking and cycling aren’t even mentioned in the policy on new stadiums. Convenient public transport access was the top factor to aim for. And Falmer wins easily. No amount of fantasising about vast numbers of spectators walking (over 25 per cent in some of Tony Harrison’s evidence) was realistic for a stadium that would serve the whole of Sussex. Only 1 per cent of Withdean spectators walk more than two miles.
Since most of Sussex could reach Falmer with a simple train journey, that was the site that should be preferred. Sheepcote Valley was as far from Brighton Station as Beeding Cement Works was from Shoreham, and the Albion’s evidence was that there would never be enough buses to carry all the people who wanted to travel. Which meant that Sheepcote Valley would depend on cars for reasonable access. Toads Hole Valley was much the same, although Tony Harrison persisted with his view that a two mile walk from Hove Station would be acceptable to enthusiastic football supporters.
The afternoon session saw Jonathan Clay’s back hold up and many other parts of Lewes District Council’s evidence fall apart. It turned out that Mr Harrison had misread the Premier League survey. Nowhere near as many fans turn up early for matches as had been claimed. They don’t spread the loadings on the roads and avoid creating traffic congestion. Even if Lewes District Council thought that non-football drivers would avoid the heavy traffic on match days, it wasn’t government policy to expect them to do so.
Tony Harrison’s suggestion that getting an average of three people into every car that brought spectators to the ground would undoubtedly help reduce traffic congestion. But how would he achieve this? We never found out.
And what was that about the stadium only being full two or three times a year? Another misunderstanding. All the football club had said was that there was a good business case for Falmer, even if the stadium operated with average gates of 15,000. Mr Harrison was planning on the basis that, however successful the Club was, that was the number of spectators we could expect.
We’ll hear more of Tony Harrison tomorrow, when the City Council start their questioning. As for Jonathan Clay, he can rest his back. And Malcolm Stuart can return to his treatment room to fit electronic devices into a first team squad that needs to be powered up to face the last four games of the season.
After a month’s break, everyone was back at Brighton Town Hall to resume the Inquiry. It was to be another day of transport evidence, this time from Lewes District Council’s consultant, Tony Harrison.
But first thoughts were all about health. Mr Harrison’s appearance had been delayed because of his earlier illness. How was he today? “Much better”, he told me, and cheered by the recent form of his team, Preston North End. Hmmm, I thought. But at least the Inquiry could move forward.
And then we heard of another injury. Jonathan Clay, the Albion’s lawyer and key striker, was having trouble with his back. All he’d done was lean forward to pick up a copy of Tony Harrison’s evidence and something had suddenly given way. What is it about our team at this stage in the season?
A quick message was sent to Malcolm Stuart, the Seagulls’ physio, summoning him to bring what the Inspector described as the magic sponge. While we waited, proceedings got underway.
Tony Harrison was there to tell the Inquiry that Sheepcote Valley and Toads Hole Valley were both fully compatible with the government’s policies on sustainable development. More people could walk to either site than Falmer and more people would cycle, particularly since the Council were spending lots of money on new cycle routes. Cars could be easily parked in Madeira Drive or at the Marina.
The Albion’s fears about traffic chaos were unfounded, since people would spread their travel times if pre-match entertainment could be laid on and post-match refreshments sold. The Premier League had done a survey of fans that proved this was the case. Anyway, the stadium would only be full on two or three occasions each season.
As always with transport experts, we were given lots of numbers. 34 buses an hour to Sheepcote Valley, lots of buses going near Toads Hole Valley. Well, within an easy two mile walk of Toads Hole Valley. Two per cent of spectators likely to use their bikes to get to matches. Lots of spare buses available.
Jonathan Clay rose to cross-examine Mr Harrison, just as Malcolm Stuart arrived. The Inspector, being a reasonable referee, asked if Jonathan wanted time to fix his back. And so we all had a forty minute coffee break.
When Jonathan was ready to resume, he’d been wired up with what looked like a remote control unit that only Malcolm understood. What it was supposed to do is a mystery, but it seemed to work. Maybe it’s a gadget that Jake Robinson has been secretly testing at a government research establishment near Aldershot. Whatever, it’s a fancy bit of kit. The Inspector looked disappointed that it wasn’t the traditional bucket and sponge.
The rest of us settled back to watch Mr Clay in action. Systematically and carefully, he led Tony Harrison through his own evidence and the government policy documents that define what sustainable development is.
As a transport expert, Mr Harrison thought he knew all about policy on transport. There was a “hierarchy of modes” that put walking and cycling at the top and single occupancy car travel way down at the bottom. The best development sites were those that provided convenient access on foot. But what was being forgotten was that there was another government policy document on sport and recreation, that recognised that football stadiums served large catchment areas and were therefore not like other developments.
Walking and cycling aren’t even mentioned in the policy on new stadiums. Convenient public transport access was the top factor to aim for. And Falmer wins easily. No amount of fantasising about vast numbers of spectators walking (over 25 per cent in some of Tony Harrison’s evidence) was realistic for a stadium that would serve the whole of Sussex. Only 1 per cent of Withdean spectators walk more than two miles.
Since most of Sussex could reach Falmer with a simple train journey, that was the site that should be preferred. Sheepcote Valley was as far from Brighton Station as Beeding Cement Works was from Shoreham, and the Albion’s evidence was that there would never be enough buses to carry all the people who wanted to travel. Which meant that Sheepcote Valley would depend on cars for reasonable access. Toads Hole Valley was much the same, although Tony Harrison persisted with his view that a two mile walk from Hove Station would be acceptable to enthusiastic football supporters.
The afternoon session saw Jonathan Clay’s back hold up and many other parts of Lewes District Council’s evidence fall apart. It turned out that Mr Harrison had misread the Premier League survey. Nowhere near as many fans turn up early for matches as had been claimed. They don’t spread the loadings on the roads and avoid creating traffic congestion. Even if Lewes District Council thought that non-football drivers would avoid the heavy traffic on match days, it wasn’t government policy to expect them to do so.
Tony Harrison’s suggestion that getting an average of three people into every car that brought spectators to the ground would undoubtedly help reduce traffic congestion. But how would he achieve this? We never found out.
And what was that about the stadium only being full two or three times a year? Another misunderstanding. All the football club had said was that there was a good business case for Falmer, even if the stadium operated with average gates of 15,000. Mr Harrison was planning on the basis that, however successful the Club was, that was the number of spectators we could expect.
We’ll hear more of Tony Harrison tomorrow, when the City Council start their questioning. As for Jonathan Clay, he can rest his back. And Malcolm Stuart can return to his treatment room to fit electronic devices into a first team squad that needs to be powered up to face the last four games of the season.
