Nowhere in our submission to Ruth Kelly does Falmer Parish Council take the view that the people of Moulsecoomb are not capable of doing skilled office or manual jobs at any new stadium, no matter where it may be sited (The Argus, March 23).

Falmer Parish Council is the only participant in the stadium inquiry which has gone to the trouble of commissioning an independent report from one of the country's leading regeneration experts.

His report looked into stadium job prospects for the high numbers of residents in the East Brighton area who are unqualified, unskilled and unemployed.

His conclusions are that a new football stadium would not be a genuine regeneration scheme, partly because it offers too few full-time jobs to those with no qualifications.

Yes, there will be stewarding jobs on 20 or so match days and other occasional events but in terms of fulltime work there will be little of substance on offer.

It is a fact that there are high levels of unemployed and unskilled people in the East Brighton area, whether in Moulsecoomb or Whitehawk.

It is also a fact that neither the city council nor the football club will be able to guarantee that a single new job created by any stadium will go to an unemployed, unskilled resident of the East Brighton area.

Which is the more insulting to the unemployed of East Brighton?

The reality that the bid for a new stadium by a private company, answerable only to its shareholders, with no regeneration expertise, will not deliver what it promises, or the cynical and opportunistic attempt by the football club to dangle the carrot of full time employment in front of those residents of East Brighton, raising false hopes for its own private gain?

There is far more to regeneration than simply providing job opportunities and new buildings. It is also about real-life constraints and the provision of support mechanisms.

Our submission is there to be read on our website www.falmer.org.uk.

  • Melanie Cutress, Falmer Parish Council