- May 8, 2018
- 9,277
Sorry to add to your admin
It’s not a no, but a bit more thought will need to go into this plan of yours
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[Albion] Was there a better site than Falmer
- Thread starter goldstoneseagull
- Start date
Sorry to add to your admin
It’s not a no, but a bit more thought will need to go into this plan of yours
Uncle Buck
Ghost Writer
- Jul 7, 2003
- 28,071
Weird reading this having lived through the struggles to actually get a ground in Brighton and Hove.
This season the pre game transport has been a bit roulette based, although on Sunday the 138pm from Brighton was empty and one drink post match allowed minimal queuing to get the train and was at Gatwick by 6pm ( the Easyjet delayed the flight).
Sheffield Utd is the new challenge. Doing this one as a day trip, so 515am train from Alexandraplatz, will it be Easyjet or Southern thst cock up? 8pm flight back from Gatwick, which will be delayed.
This season the pre game transport has been a bit roulette based, although on Sunday the 138pm from Brighton was empty and one drink post match allowed minimal queuing to get the train and was at Gatwick by 6pm ( the Easyjet delayed the flight).
Sheffield Utd is the new challenge. Doing this one as a day trip, so 515am train from Alexandraplatz, will it be Easyjet or Southern thst cock up? 8pm flight back from Gatwick, which will be delayed.
The owners, Entain have one use in mind for this site and it ain’t sport
schmunk
"Members"
If you have Dannii in the A2, you will feel the difference...
- Oct 20, 2022
- 4,885
No, there wasn’t anywhere better - it boiled down to Falmer with the direct rail link - that was exactly one of the mains reasons why it was preferred (I’m not saying it is perfect, getting to the Stadium by car and waiting fcuking hours in the cold and rain for Park and Ride is a nightmare and clearly the provision and timing of suitable train service needs and imo, those packed platforms are an accident waiting to happen but these things can be improved (and absolutely should be) .
I was involved in the campaign for the Falmer site spearheaded by Steve Bassam, (the Leader of the Labour Council at the time ) and I know for a fact that every alternative was looked at very closely - we debated it for months and months before holding the referendum- it was the only site other than Withdean or Brighton Station (that the Green Party supported) that had the (supposed) transport links but the Station site and Withdean wasn’t suitable for our hospitality development needs etc which we certainly needed as part of a financial sustainability plan for the Club - it was a long planning battle because Lewes Council launched a High Court Appeal against John Prescott’s decision to allow us to go ahead due to it conflicting with their own government planning guidance on AONBs - but much of that and village’s protests was largely nimbyism IMO - what made it a controversial in the end, wasn’t the access issue.
It was John Prescott’s final decision despite the HC application that guaranteed our survival after all the alternative sites had been thoroughly considered and I am glad we got there in the end even though it is far from perfect.
I was involved in the campaign for the Falmer site spearheaded by Steve Bassam, (the Leader of the Labour Council at the time ) and I know for a fact that every alternative was looked at very closely - we debated it for months and months before holding the referendum- it was the only site other than Withdean or Brighton Station (that the Green Party supported) that had the (supposed) transport links but the Station site and Withdean wasn’t suitable for our hospitality development needs etc which we certainly needed as part of a financial sustainability plan for the Club - it was a long planning battle because Lewes Council launched a High Court Appeal against John Prescott’s decision to allow us to go ahead due to it conflicting with their own government planning guidance on AONBs - but much of that and village’s protests was largely nimbyism IMO - what made it a controversial in the end, wasn’t the access issue.
It was John Prescott’s final decision despite the HC application that guaranteed our survival after all the alternative sites had been thoroughly considered and I am glad we got there in the end even though it is far from perfect.
That absolutely did happen. Falmer was the only feasible option, one of the requirements was access to trains.
Prior to the Amex being built I thought Waterhall was the obvious site but now in hind site I think where it is has been a great success although it’s not without its issues which are based on two thing's Transport to and from the ground can be a nightmare the Seagull travel coach pickup is really good but so expensive I had to give it up, the train when running are great way of getting there to have beer in town but getting away is awful especially when it’s cold and wet, park and ride again like the trains cold and wet the bus stop is horrible, car parking is very hit and miss and quite expensive, Public Buses are good but for me it’s a 1.5 hour journey each way and again getting away from the ground on cold and wet days is not fun with getting home times pushed right out.
I know the monorail idea was seen as pie in the sky but if one ran from the Amex to Brighton station that would be fantastic
I know the monorail idea was seen as pie in the sky but if one ran from the Amex to Brighton station that would be fantastic
Not Andy Naylor
Well-known member
Falmer was always the worst possible site apart from all the others, as detailed above.
I once had a Field Of Dreams moment at Withdean. In the movie, the protagonist, Ray Kinsella, has a vision of a baseball field in his cornfield, and in similar fashion I had a vision of proper stands around the Withdean pitch. There was space there for a 20,000-seater ground, and plenty more people could have walked there than feel they can walk to the Amex.
But the Amex is surely preferable on every level. Even when the trains aren't performing, the Lewes Road/A27 is one of the most bus-heavy thoroughfares in Sussex, and there are also the park-and-rides, not to mention the university and Bridge car parks. Very few Premier League grounds are perfectly sited.
I once had a Field Of Dreams moment at Withdean. In the movie, the protagonist, Ray Kinsella, has a vision of a baseball field in his cornfield, and in similar fashion I had a vision of proper stands around the Withdean pitch. There was space there for a 20,000-seater ground, and plenty more people could have walked there than feel they can walk to the Amex.
But the Amex is surely preferable on every level. Even when the trains aren't performing, the Lewes Road/A27 is one of the most bus-heavy thoroughfares in Sussex, and there are also the park-and-rides, not to mention the university and Bridge car parks. Very few Premier League grounds are perfectly sited.
The area is literally stuffed full of car parks.
It’s a little disappointing that so few of these are available but perhaps it’s to do with a transport plan aimed at getting everyone using sustainable transport?
Here are some of the local carparks that are not fully utilised during match days.
The Keep carpark:
Southern Water Carpark:
Brighton Aldridge Carpark:
University of Brighton (former Virgin Active) car parks:
Bennett’s Field Car Park:
deletebeepbeepbeep
Well-known member
- May 12, 2009
- 20,961
We all know why Bennetts Field isn't available and I guess the others aren't because the money being offered isn't worth the inconvenience to the landowners.
fataddick
Well-known member
Presumably (to whatever extent it was anything beyond pie-in-the-sky to begin with) BML2 is now dead in the water? I'm guessing post-HS2 cancellation there's no appetite for new rail routes, especially not ones with the number 2 in.
For those who don't recall it, 10-15 years ago Network Rail explored the idea of a second Brighton Main Line. This didn't go beyond a feasibility study but campaigners have continued to call for it ever since. It would have involved a line from Falmer to Uckfield (via a new tunnel under the Downs) to create a second Brighton-London mainline via Oxted etc.
I'm guessing the above would alleviate many of the issues re train capacity at Falmer. Although in practice it would probably mean closing Falmer station for years to do the work (and then belatedly scrap the idea anyway) so it would have the opposite effect, but that's the UK railways for you...
For those who don't recall it, 10-15 years ago Network Rail explored the idea of a second Brighton Main Line. This didn't go beyond a feasibility study but campaigners have continued to call for it ever since. It would have involved a line from Falmer to Uckfield (via a new tunnel under the Downs) to create a second Brighton-London mainline via Oxted etc.
I'm guessing the above would alleviate many of the issues re train capacity at Falmer. Although in practice it would probably mean closing Falmer station for years to do the work (and then belatedly scrap the idea anyway) so it would have the opposite effect, but that's the UK railways for you...
giveusfalmerplease
Well-known member
Wasn't there talk of the greyhound stadium being an option, bizarrely
- Apr 5, 2014
- 23,609
Blimey. That would never happen. I can't see how a line that avoided Lewes would have the passenger traffic (assuming you mean that) The main problem was the old Uckfield to Lewes line being shut. That can't be re-opened, despite what folk say.
Vaughan Storm
Active member
I think the one thing a lot are missing is that very little people can walk home from Falmer, as there's very little residential areas nearby. If the Brighton station site got approval, thousands of fans would've been within walking distance of home which puts a lot less pressure on infrastructure. Maybe expanding the Amex from 22k wasn't thought out well enough either.
Thunder Bolt
Silly old bat
Moulsecomb and Coldean are within walking distance, and so is Woodingdean for fit people.
The Brighton station site wasn’t available when we applied for planning permission having already been sold.
Thunder Bolt
Silly old bat
The platforms at Falmer were extended to take eight carriages but the problem is Southern rail aren’t providing 8 carriage train.
fataddick
Well-known member
There are a lot of websites and social media groups still pushing BML2. This is the main one (which was updated a few weeks ago so is still very active) which goes into way more detail about the logistics: https://www.bml2.co.uk/bml2-route-plans
I think the main selling point is that by having two separate Brighton-London mainlines capacity is increased and one can still run when the other is shut for engineering work or just generally spangled. When I used to commute regularly it felt almost weekly that there would be an electric fault between Haywards and Brighton and my late night train home would end up leaving the mainline to trundle slowly past Lewes then park up whilst the driver changed ends and the points shifted onto the Falmer line.
Being able to use a whole different line when things are broken at Three Bridges or Clayton Tunnel (as they often are) would be a godsend. I suppose you're right about less demand for that alternative route though - I guess having Gatwick Airport in the middle is a big passenger magnet on the current mainline in a way that Uckfield and Crowborough wouldn't be!
GT49er
Well-known member
There probably was - and is - a better site than Falmer.................but not one that was/is available.
I think the site of the old railway works and goods depot by Brighton station would have been excellent, but there's no point in worrying over that now. It's not an option, nor, I imagine, is moving from Falmer!
I do wonder what if certain greedy bastards hadn't flogged off the Goldstone, when Bloom's money became available, there would have been a possibility of literally buying the whole of Goldstone Lane and all the properties in it and shifting the pitch a little to the east and building big new stands in the expanded space available. Who knows? Anyway, it's all whatiffery. Falmer it is.
Maybe not perfect, but at least it isn't Priestfield!
I think the site of the old railway works and goods depot by Brighton station would have been excellent, but there's no point in worrying over that now. It's not an option, nor, I imagine, is moving from Falmer!
I do wonder what if certain greedy bastards hadn't flogged off the Goldstone, when Bloom's money became available, there would have been a possibility of literally buying the whole of Goldstone Lane and all the properties in it and shifting the pitch a little to the east and building big new stands in the expanded space available. Who knows? Anyway, it's all whatiffery. Falmer it is.
Maybe not perfect, but at least it isn't Priestfield!
- Apr 5, 2014
- 23,609
It's a shame the Uckfield line closed, although I thought that was connected to road building. It seemed a starnge decision to essentially cut off a connection to a hub. I know that Transport for South East have proposed it re-opens. But I won't live to see that. It's a long way off I would think.