Falmer Stadium
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| Location | Brighton, East Sussex, England |
|---|---|
| Built | Planning permission granted, 2007 |
| Opened | Scheduled to open in August 2011 |
| Owner | Brighton & Hove Albion F.C., Brighton and Hove City Council |
| Operator | Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction cost | £60 million |
| Architect | KSS Design Group |
| General Contractor | Buckingham Group renovated = |
| Capacity | 22,374 |
| Tenants | |
| Brighton & Hove Albion FC (from 2011) | |
Falmer Stadium is the temporary generic title of a community association football stadium to be 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. Construction at the site officially started on 17 December 2008.
Planning permission was granted on 24 July 2007. The stadium is planned as a 22,500[1] capacity all-seater stadium, however this could be expanded.[citation needed] 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.
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[edit] 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has received planning approval for a substantial rebuilding of the campus, and the stadium would replace several outdated campus buildings.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.
The pitch itself will run north-west to south-east, with the largest stand running the length of the southern side of the playing field.
[edit] Road to development
[edit] Problems with planning
Whilst planning permission was given by the unitary authority (Brighton and Hove) in June 2002[2] 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.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]
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.
Four years after the original plans were put forward by the club John Prescott, then the Deputy Prime Minister, approved the plans on 28 October 2005. 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. This was the biggest milestone in the fight for a new stadium. Brighton and Hove Albion had been given permission to build in Falmer. 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 club received full permission to proceed.
Brighton & Hove Albion have been intent on building a new permanent stadium in Brighton since 1997, when the previous board, consisting of Bill Archer and David Belloti, sold the ground in 1995 with no new home arranged. The club stayed on as temporary tenants for two seasons. The board's motives came into serious review with illegal changes to the club's articles of associations revealing an apparent intent to liquidate the club for financial gain. After nearly two years of struggle, Dick Knight purchased a controlling interest in the club and formed a new board. The new board were forced to play home games some 50 miles away in a groundshare with Gillingham in Kent. Two years later, they returned to Brighton as tenants of Withdean Athletics Stadium which was upgraded to Football League capacity requirements and later expanded when Brighton reached Division One (now the Football League Championship) in 2002 following two successive promotions. The site at Falmer was identified during the 1998-99 season and it was hoped that the stadium would be ready in the early to mid 2000s, but subsequent delays mean that the club will have to wait until the next decade before the new stadium could become a reality.
[edit] Argus Report
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.
[edit] Further Delay
On 2 October 2008 Brighton & Hove Albion announced that the stadium's opening has been put back another year to August 2011. Former Albion 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." Despite the 2008 economic downturn, Albion fans have been assured the project will not be affected.
[edit] Construction Launch Date
The beginning of works at the Falmer site are set to begin on the 17th December 2008, with a fans "ceremony" to mark the occasion. Stadium contractors the Buckingham Group are reported to sign the contract deal by the end of November, signalling a December start date. The initial phase of the project is not on the stadium itself, but on the widening of Village Way which has to be completed before the bulk excavation of the main stadium site can commence. The work on the actual stadium is not due to start until April 2009. If work is to be completed as expected, it will end one of the longest struggles for a football club's permanent home in English football history.
[edit] The Stadium
[edit] 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. This will heavily cut down on carbon emissions by stopping 20,000 lorry trips taking the chalk to landfill. The stadium capacity will be 22,374 all seated, the largest in Sussex.
[edit] Future projected timeline
December 2008 - Excavation starts to enable widening of Village Way.(Finished 9 April 2009)
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.[3]
[edit] Images
 stadium projection from air |
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[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Lewes District Council: 24 July 2007: Countryside loses out in Falmer decision
- ^ University of Sussex planning permission timeline for Falmer Stadium
- ^ [1]
- Details of the stadium plan (most information adapted from this site)
- Lewes District Council's High Court challenge
- [2]
Coordinates: 50°51′42.56″N 0°4′59.80″W / 50.8618222°N 0.0832778°W
