NEWS FROM THE SEAGULLS PARTY
19 February 2007 - Lewes District Council
Sex Up Dodgy Dossier Having asked for an extension of time to allow transport consultants, RPS Transport, to assess transport access to Sheepcote Valley , the council received a draft report on 6 February that told them that a stadium at Sheepcote would cause traffic at the Warren Road/Wilson Avenue junction to grind to a halt on matchdays. This would effectively cut Woodingdean off from the city centre every time a game was played. The Council has now published this report on its website, inadvertently including a comment that reveals how they are trying to sidestep this fatal flaw in their case. The version of the report on the website includes an instruction, in capital letters, to whoever was charged with providing the final evidence to Ruth Kelly:- “In your summary make sure that you say this is very good compared to most stadia in urban areas and that there will be no problems”. Albion fans have reacted to this with astonishment. Seagulls Party leader, Paul Samrah said “We have always known that a stadium at Sheepcote Valley would lead to completely unacceptable traffic congestion on Brighton ’s roads. Lewes council’s own consultants have now confirmed this. But someone at the council is trying to spin their way out of the dilemma that this report presents to them. “This is typical of the underhand way that
LDC have treated supporters of the Falmer stadium project for years.
The Seagulls Party calls upon Ann de Vecchi and her council to accept
that there is no case for Sheepcote Valley as an alternative to Falmer
and drop their opposition to the planning permission that John Prescott
gave last year” The particular paragraph in the LDC report that
the Seagulls Party is highlighting |
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18 August 2006
- Election result unsettles our opponents Ed Bassford said "At the start of the campaign
we were dismissed by the other parties as an irrelevance. They genuinely
expected us to get hardly any votes at all but at the count we could
see just how rattled the Lib Dems and Tories were as our votes piled
up! He concluded, "We have demonstrated that we are a genuine force in local politics and I'm proud to have been able to hold up the flag for Seagulls everywhere. I'd also like to thank the many people who have worked so hard during the campaign." After the result was declared on Thursday night, Leader of the Seagulls Party, Paul Samrah said, "We've got more crosses in the box than the Albion did during the whole of last season and to beat the Party of Government is no mean feat for us. To go from a standing start to winning almost a quarter of the vote is remarkable and shows that our message is backed by a significant proportion of the electorate in Lewes district. We must be one of the fastest-growing political parties in Britain". The full election result: |
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August 2006 - Press Release from Brighton & Hove Albion FC: Headed up “Falmer for all” which is of course the name of the campaign led by Albion supporters it claims that the ”Rolling Downs should be for the enjoyment of everyone, not left at the mercy of developers”. Martin Perry said, “For starters the site of the stadium is not in the rolling downs. It is a left over parcel of land at the bottom of a valley with no public access. It is farmed privately and there is no way the public can view this site as part of the rolling downs. The so-called developers are the football club and one of the main aims of the stadium development is that it will be of huge benefit to the local community including the inhabitants of Lewes. No-one will be excluded from it and it will give access to a piece of land from which the public is currently barred”. The Leaflet goes on to say that, “the area is being considered for National Park status”. Perry explained that only a small part of the site is being considered for National Park status and even that is in dispute. “The total area of the site is 21 acres. 15 acres are in Brighton and not included within the proposals for the new National Park and the remaining 6 acres are within Lewes and possibly included within the proposals but even the Countryside Agency changed their minds over this. Originally they drew the boundary leaving out the site altogether but then mysteriously they reissued the drawing to include the part within Lewes. No decision has been taken whether on not this part will be included in the new National Park. What we do know is that if the National Park is implemented the 15 acres in the City of Brighton currently within the AONB but which falls outside the National Park Boundary will be de-designated and will have no special protection because it no longer warrants special status. This is the part on which the stadium itself is to be built.” The stadium will not therefore weaken National Park protection. The coach park may not even be in the new National Park but even if it does does fall within it, the criteria that must be met before development can take place in an area with special protection will remain in tact.” In the next paragraph the leaflet says, “Much of the proposed site is firmly within the boundaries of Lewes District and the impact of the development will be felt keenly by residents in towns such as Lewes”. Perry commented, “Less than a third of the site – 6 acres - is actually in Lewes District and there are no buildings on this part. It is the bus and coach interchange which is flat, landscaped and scree ned with trees. The whole of the built part of the development – the stadium itself - is in The City of Brighton and Hove . And as for the impact which the development will have on Lewes, this can only be beneficial. The development is specifically desig ned to provide opportunities for education, skills training and jobs. And this impact will be felt not only directly on the site but also in all the surrounding areas. We were approached just recently by a major supplier who told us that if they were awarded a multi-million pound service contract for the stadium they would use their base in Lewes to serve the contract. This would create new jobs and bring economic benefit directly to the town of Lewes .What is the matter with the Lib Dems in Lewes? Why don’t they want these benefits for their residents?” Finally the in the Leaflet Lib Dem Council Leader Ann de Vecchi claims that “Brighton & Hove Albion have [not] yet submitted any evidence to court to counter our challenge and the government’s own solicitor has acknowledged John Prescott’s original decision to be fatally flawed.” Perry added “the reason we have not submitted any evidence is because the Treasury Solicitor has offered to concede that there is a technical error in the decision letter so there is no point in submitting evidence at this stage. But the fact that he has conceded that there is an error in the letter does not mean that the decision itself was wrong. However having admitted that John Prescott misdirected himself the right way to proceed is for the original decision to be quashed and the decision made again on a sound basis. The route is simple and easy but Lewes District Council is deliberately trying to frustrate the process. They have been offered the terms of a consent order which if they agreed would lead to the quashing of the decision by the High Court and the matter would be referred back to the new Secretary of State Ruth Kelly. If they are concer ned about the other grounds they have raised, Lewes will have every opportunity to ask her to consider these as part of the process of re-making the decision. Instead Lewes Council have refused to accept the terms of the Consent Order and are insisting the matter goes to court in December delaying the whole process by a further five months unnecessarily. This demonstrates where Lewes is coming from. It is not about protecting the AONB which will not exist when the stadium is built or the National Park which will be unaffected by the proposals. It is about trying to frustrate the planning process and defeating the stadium by delay. It just demonstrates how they are trying to mislead everyone”. |
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15 August
2006 - Seagulls Party Challenges Senior Lewes Councillor As a result, Adrian Newnham, Deputy Leader of the Seagulls Party has now laid down the following challenge: 'Mr Neighbour's predecessor (Neil Commin) offered to resign if costs exceeded £65,000. Mr Commin has since stood down and so we are challenging Mr Neighbour to make the same commitment. The bottom line is that he cannot guarantee that they will not become liable to pay all the defendents’ costs and no amount of bluff or bluster can hide this fact'. Mr Newnham added: "The only power the Court has is to quash the decision and to refer it back to the Secretary of State for further consideration. The government lawyers have already offered to do this without the need for a court hearing. But Lewes District Council have refused to allow that to happen even though they have also received an offer to ensure that Ruth Kelly takes account of all 16 points the council wish to have reconsidered. Their insistence in taking the matter to court is a delaying tactic and the council are playing a dangerous game with local council tax payers’ money”. There is also some confusion within Lewes District Council over how they will construct their case. Mr Newnham highlighted: ‘Within their submissions, LDC says that John Prescott misinterpreted his own planning policies on AONB land. But at the second Inquiry Lewes actively promoted Toads Hole Valley as an alternative site which is also in the AONB. Yet they object to a stadium plan that is using a significant proportion of brown space whilst offering wholly greenfield sites - including one in an AONB - as an alternative. So it seems that Mr Neighbour is quite happy for the stadium to be built in an AONB so long as it is not one that is close to Lewes. This is pure hypocrisy. They are risking hundreds of thousands of pounds on a court case for which they are totally incapable of putting together a cohesive argument.' He concluded: "David Neighbour is quick to come out fighting when his council is questio ned over their unpopular decision to pursue this High Court action. However in his haste to make snappy soundbites, he appears to have totally confused himself." |
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10 August
2006 - Seagulls Party Candidate welcomes Government Commitment to
safer junctions at Glynde Ed also welcomed the government's promise that the Highways Agency would consider whether similar improvements could be provided for the side roads in Firle. Commenting on the announcement by Secretaries of State Ruth Kelly and Douglas Alexander, Ed Bassford said:- 'This news will be welcomed by local people who have been living with long traffic queues at Beddingham for years. The new bridge will undoubtedly have an impact on the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. But it is gratifying that Ruth Kelly and her colleague have recognised that it is important to strike the right balance between protecting the AONB and meeting the needs of people in Sussex. I will continue to argue the case for Glynde and Firle as details of the proposed scheme become available'. |
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4
August 2006 - Lewes Council campaign a needless waste of public
money The council’s refusal to accept this option for settling the matter has resulted in the football club issuing them a formal warning that they intend to recover their legal costs if the case goes to court unnecessarily. This could push the council’s total bill above £200,000 if the court orders that all defendants’ costs are to be met by Lewes District Council. This could happen even if the district council technically win the case. The Seagulls Party candidate in the Ouse Valley and Ringmer council by-election, Ed Bassford, who attended the fans’ forum, said: “I am horrified by the continuing refusal of the council’s Lib Dem leadership to see reason. They should accept the offer that is on the table. By not doing so, they are recklessly risking an enormous sum of council tax payers’ money that should be spent on improving local services. The by-election on 17 th August is a chance for local people to send a message to the Lib Dem council that we have had enough.” Promoted and Published by
The Seagulls Party, PO Box 127, Lewes BN7 9DA |
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1
August 2006 - Baker Scrapes the Barrel Leader of The Seagulls Party, |
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July 2006: Seagulls Party to Fight First Election His campaign
will focus on the need to change the way Lewes District Council
works and to involve the public better in its decision making processes.
As Ed Bassford says, “Local people are fed up with hearing
of decisions being made behind closed doors. The council has committed
money to challenging the government’s Falmer Stadium decision,
when it is clear that most people in the district want to see the
football club settled in its new home as soon as possible. But
it is not just the stadium issue that is making people disillusioned
with their councillors. It’s time for a change”. |
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| 6 June 2006: Seagulls Party Calls for Resignation of Council Leader | |
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June 2006: New Political Party Formed Leader of The Seagulls Party, Paul Samrah said, “With
the new round of Council elections less than a year away, we believe
the time is right for the launch of this new political party. Recent
developments - including selective
photo editing in Council publications - have brought Lewes District
Council’s integrity into question. In particular, the continued
obduracy of the Council and their complete disregard for the view
of thousands of local residents has led us to take this action. We
have strong support right across the Lewes District, from Newick
to Newhaven and from Seaford to Saltdean – evidenced last December
by over 5,000 Lewes District residents signing a petition in less
than a week. |
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The
Seagulls Party took almost a quarter of all votes cast in the
Ouse Valley & Ringmer ward by-election on 17 August. In the
downland villages in the ward, where the party claimed over 40%
of the total vote, Ed Bassford, the Seagulls Party candidate
took more votes than any of his rivals from the three mainstream
political parties. This impressive first election showing from
a party launched so recently not only confirms the credibility
of the Seagulls Party but also demonstrates that they will be
a force to be reckoned with in the May 2007 local elections. 
Brighton & Hove
Albion have attacked the latest leaflet put out by the Liberal Democrats in
Lewes claiming that it is deliberately misleading. Chief Executive Martin Perry
said, “The lengths that the Lib Dems in Lewes will go, to try
to make their case, really are extraordinary,. Not content with falsifying
photographs in the District Link Magazine – they published the image
of two ramblers in two separate photographs with totally different backgrounds
behind them which demonstrates that at least one of them must have been doctored – they
have now issued a leaflet which is extremely economical with the truth. The
leaflet is very misleading and if people don’t know the facts they could
easily be taken in by it”. 
The
Seagulls Party have challenged David Neighbour, Lewes District
Council's Lead Councillor for Planning to resign if the costs of
his council’s High Court action against the proposed community
stadium at Falmer rise above £65,000. Mr Neighbour, who took
over the role as lead councillor in July, has issued a series of
public statements defending his council’s legal challenge
despite the likelihood of them becoming liable to pay all the defendants’ costs. 
Brighton & Hove
Albion FC Chief Executive, Martin Perry, has confirmed that Lewes District
Council is needlessly risking hundreds of thousands of pounds in pursuing
High Court action against the proposed community stadium at Falmer.
Speaking at the annual Fans’ Forum at Withdean on 3 August, he
told supporters that the District Council have been offered the opportunity
to have all the points contained in their legal challenge considered
by the Secretary of State, Ruth Kelly, without waiting until under
5 December 2006 for a High Court Hearing. 
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