Here we go again, an article in the Argus

[westdeneite]

says the Regency Society is going to the inquiry to say that Falmer is the wrong place for a stadium. They have put up £2500 for an expert witness. Who has ever elected these people to try and get council approval and massive referendum nod overruled.
For f####s sake yet again. The re opening of the inquiry is to establish whether there is a better alternative to Falmer, not whether Falmer is the right place.

 

[eastlondonseagull]

Bunch of brainless morons

 

[dougdeep]

Won't it be nice to see all these idiots lose their money.

 

[mrhairy]

Who are the Regency Society and shouldn't they be dead by now?

 

[Beach Hut]

WTF is the Regency Society all about

 

[DannyBhoy]

 

[Curious Orange]

Apparently there is Regency Mud at the site. Very rare, must be saved.

 

[Buckingham]

Just another sad bunch of individuals who want to stick their nose in where its not wanted so as to justify their existence

 

[smudge]

Perhaps they go to the Regency Tavern!

 

[Theatre of Trees]

Go to the website below. Underneath is a transcript of their argument against Falmer. Not anything we haven't heard before.

http://www.regencysociety.co.uk/

The Society objected to proposals by the Brighton and Hove Football Club for a 22,000 seat community stadium at Falmer, next to Brighton University. Those proposals also involve a new access road to Sussex University which would impact on the listed Lodge Gatehouses to Stanmer Park.

At the initial Inquiry we confined ourselves to supporting the case of the Sussex Downs Conservation Board which was ably presented by Martin Small. The Inspector found in an unequivocal report that the proposals should be rejected.

The report was presented to John Prescott and that should have been the end of it. But following intensive lobbying, Mr Prescott decided to re-open the Inquiry, indicating that he needed to know more about potential alternative sites.

A preliminary meeting for the re-opened inquiry was held on 13 October 2004 with a new inspector presiding. The inquiry is to examine seven named alternative sites vis: Brighton Station, Brighton Greyhound Stadium (in Hove), Shoreham Harbour, Sheepcote Valley, Toad's Hole Valley, Waterhall and Withdean Stadium, and any other realistic sites advocated by objectors to Falmer.

Since the initial Stadium Inquiry opened planning permissions have been issued and construction work started that will probably preclude both Brighton Station and the Greyhound Stadium. This is regrettable as we firmly considered that both these sites were preferable to Falmer.

So what's our strategy now? Like the Inspector at the initial Inquiry, we feel that one sustainable strategy would be for the Albion to stay at Withdean and make better use of the site's potential until a suitable brownfield site becomes available, which it will, given time.

Nonetheless, given the scope of the re-opened inquiry, if Falmer is to be defeated, it will be important for us to explore the potential of other sites, but we will focus on brownfield sites. Sheepcote Valley was favoured by the Local Plan Inspector; it's not in the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is largely a brownfield site, having been used as a tip. Shoreham Harbour may have more potential than was found at the initial inquiry, and two other sites worth exploring are Shoreham Airport and East Quay at Newhaven.

The Inspector wants all written proofs of evidence submitted by 7 January 2005 for preliminary scrutiny prior to the inquiry re-opening on 2 February. The Inquiry is scheduled for 12 working days, sitting three and a half days per week, and should finish on 22 February. A detailed programme will be published on this site as soon as it is available, so Members can come along and lend support to our case.

Because of the widened importance of the inquiry, the Society has instructed Hazel McKay, a member of the Society who lives in Hove and a graduate of Sussex University to act for us. Hazel has had a distinguished career in town planning involving private consultancy and senior posts with local authorities, including a spell as Deputy Planning Officer of Adur District Council. She was President of the Royal Town Planning Institute in 1994 and only the second woman to hold the office. At the original inquiry she gave persuasive evidence against the Falmer proposals and from discussions, we feel she shares our stance. In preparing her evidence she will liaise with our Planning Sub-Committee through its convenor, Michael Ray.

 

[The Large One]

But they are not going to be allowed to talk about Falmer at the upcoming Inquiry. Which is a shame for them...

 

[Bwian]

Yet more throwbacks who want Brighton and Hove to remain firmly seated in the 19th century.

I despair at these twerps-I really do


Lodge Gatehouses now-Oy Vay! When did they suddenly become an important part of the process?

 

[mona]

Sussex Uni graduates who are against Falmer are obnoxious hypocrites. Their elitist, right-on establishment was built on attractive downland. Smug bar stewards.

The Regency Society is run by one Selma Montford who is against every development and would like Brighton (not her home town of course!) to be a sleepy seaside town populated by her wealthy friends.

 

[West Hoathly Seagull]

I[m dim. What does a muddy field have to do with saving Regency squares? What is the nearest square to Falmer? Sussex, at least two miles away? Falmer erupts when we score and the shock is such that masonry starts to fall off the houses in Sussex Square and bottles of balsamic vinegar explode

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Here's what I wrote (currently in NSC Gold) following a day spent at the Planning Session of the inquiry. Held on April fools Day, as it happens:

"Headlining this morning was Mr.Wade, an independent town planning consultant giving evidence for the NIMBYs and a man whose impressive read-out CV includes many years as Town Planning Officer for Lewes District Council and a similar position held on Adur Council. Completely independent then..."

And here's what currently appears on the Regency Society website, regarding "Hazel McKay, a member of the Society who lives in Hove and a graduate of Sussex University to act for us":

"Hazel has had a distinguished career in town planning involving private consultancy and senior posts with local authorities, including a spell as Deputy Planning Officer of Adur District Council. "


The name of Adur District Council seems to be cropping up a lot. Is there a pattern developing here by any chance...

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

A suitable brownfield site will become available given time.

Oh fecking great, what a great alternative, we do not have time , we cannot wait for 20 years for a suitable brownfield site to miraculously become available.

Its another case of NIMBY.

I am close to blowing these people up.

 

[Brovion]

Are they any relation to the Keptown Society? There was a link to their website on here a while ago, I had a look and there was a page headed 'Black Rock Development' (or something similar). I thought they'd be really pleased that the derelict site was being developed but incredibly they're opposed!

Another typical load of 'All Development is BAD' knee-jerk NIMBYism. Brighton is a living, evolving city you morons not a huge open-air museum.

 

[The Auditor]

Apparently there is Regency Mud at the site. Very rare, must be saved.

brilliant
Do their funders agree with such a waste of funds

 

[Easy 10]

Brighton is a living, evolving city you morons not a huge open-air museum.

What a great line. We should adopt this as our mantra.

 

[ben andrews' girlfriend]

I'm getting really pissed off with all these people coming out of the woodwork, its just CRAP, why dont they just go back to the HOLE they came from


grrrr