Toad's Hole Valley doesn't sound like much of a place and in its current state is a waste of space.

Cut off by the Brighton bypass and King George VI Avenue, it is more barren than beautiful.

Its future is often a matter for speculation since it is by far the largest area of developable land south of the bypass.

At one time it was earmarked for an Albion ground until the good people living nearby said they did not like the idea and last year there was talk of using part of it for a business park.

Unlike most other land on the edge of the Downs in Brighton and Hove, it is owned by a private company rather than the city council.

The worst thing that could happen to Toad's Hole Valley would be its development as a dull, suburban housing estate attracting rich incomers rather than housing local people in need.

Yet that is precisely what could be its eventual fate.

Even designation as part of the new national park might not save it from housing because it is south of the bypass.

It would be far better to proceed with the idea of the business park while opening up most of the land as a public park.

This would preserve the steep hillside slope to the south, the only part which is of ecological interest, and give people the access they have been denied so far.

It would also stop the curse of bikers using it as an unofficial dirt track.

If Toad's Hole Valley becomes part of the national park, the land will never be part of the Downs because of the physical barrier posed by the dual carriageway. It will slowly deteriorate until the first application is made for housing there.

Much attention is being focused on where the boundaries of the park should be.

Many people would like to include every scrap of open space next to the jagged line of the built up area, including many in the area of outstanding natural beauty.

It would be sensible on the western and northern sides of the city simply to follow the line of the bypass and make that the outward boundary of development.

That would be far more effective than a complicated and disputed border.

What this emphatically would not mean is that all open space south of the bypass would be open for development.

After all, the bypass has been open for a decade and it hasn't happened yet. It would give freedom to the city to breathe and make the best use of sites such as Toad's Hole Valley and the derelict buildings of Patcham Court Farm.

There are plenty of green fields south of the bypass which will never be in danger of development, even if excluded from the park.

They include part of Southwick Hill, Three Cornered Copse, Green Ridge and bits of Stanmer Park. They are protected by the ownership either of the council or the National Trust.

Benfield Valley was partially wrecked by the building of the unnecessary Hangleton Link Road but there are still some worthwhile sections, especially north of Hangleton Lane, and it is protected by an agreement made when the West Hove branch of Sainsbury's was erected.

The bypass should never have been built. It wrecked the Downs more than any other single development since the war.

But since it is there, it should perform a vital role by being the indisputable limit of development. Within its confines are several dreadful developments. The concrete corset will ensure there are no more on the other side.