Brighton and Hove Albion could be in the First Division next year.

They are lying second and have just walloped the leaders, Reading.

Yet if they achieve their second successive promotion, the Seagulls will still be playing home matches at a temporary stadium with a maximum capacity of 7,000.

No wonder Brighton and Hove City Council leader Ken Bodfish and Lord Bassam of Brighton are keen for everyone to get a move on with the proposed new community stadium at Falmer.

The stadium has the overwhelming support of the public, as shown in the 1999 referendum. It would be for the whole community and not exclusively for football fans.

There is an urgent need for it. Albion can't survive at the top without it. Withdean is better than playing at Gillingham but it really is strictly only a temporary stadium.

The planning process has to be firm and fair. If the stadium plans prove flawed, they must be adapted or rejected.

But if they are both carefully and imaginatively prepared, there's no reason why they can't be an architectural asset to Falmer as well as a big attraction.

What will do no one any good is a long, drawn out public inquiry such as the one into Terminal Five at Heathrow airport which lasted several years.

The council must do all it can to encourage this development to take place. It will be good for football and great for the city.