What an inspired idea of the Sage of Sussex (February 21) to enlist Chris Brasher as an ally in the fight to protect the green and pleasant playing fields from sell-off at the Varndean/Stringer site.

Why not go all the way and field Brighton's own Steve Ovett too, an old boy himself?

But before anyone takes to the barricades, let us hear fully the arguments on both sides. It is, after all, a splendidly large site which may be able to absorb reasonable development.

Whatever the case for and against, though, I cannot help but wonder if the development of Varndean Sixth Form College, at the root of the question, would not be better placed at Falmer instead of the absurdity of a soccer stadium.

What an even more formidably intellectual campus Falmer could be then - two universities, Brighton and Sussex, and probably the best sixth-form college in Britain.

Would this not be something to be proud of?

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