Brighton’s green belt stadium
Brighton and Hove Albion’s plan to build the new Falmer stadium on green belt land may cause the football club to spend up to £90,000 defending their proposal.
The club, renowned for its financial difficulties over the past decade, proposed the new 22,000-seater Falmer stadium and has now incurred the wrath of Lewes council.
While Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has already approved the Falmer stadium to be built on green belt land, Lewes council are claiming that the stadium would encroach on the Sussex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Although green belt planning laws were recently loosened by Mr Prescott - who urged the building of 3,600 new homes and businesses on Stevenage green belt - Lewes District Council argued that Prescott misinterpreted government planning policy for greenbelt land.
A spokeswoman announced that the authority’s case was against “the flawed reasoning of the Deputy Prime Minister".
Brighton and Hove Albion football club have issued a statement after being named as an appeal defendant along with Brighton council and the government.
It said the case was a financial burden it "could well do without".
Date: Friday 20th January, 2006
