Many Albion supporters had gone into this Public Inquiry with the thought that the strongest argument for Falmer was that a stadium there could be built without creating serious traffic problems. If Falmer had a weakness, it seemed to be that the countryside lobby were concerned about the impact on the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

As the Inquiry has unfolded, it has become clear that most of the alternative sites would be worse than Falmer, when it came to traffic. But what if transport turned out to be not the most important issue? Would that mean that we’d lose Falmer, if a site could be found that wasn’t as sensitive a location in the minds of the countryside lobby?

We were beginning to wonder if that alternative site might be called Sheepcote Valley. OK, there’d be cars parked all over the place on match days and some of us would find it a pain to get there, but it’s only an old tip that nobody really cares about. We’d have a new stadium and at least we wouldn’t have to put up with those moaning neighbours in Falmer Village.

Last Friday’s session at the Inquiry changed all that. We learned that, far from being “just an old tip”, Sheepcote Valley is a much loved, much used, genuine area of natural beauty, home to badgers, weasels, reptiles and forty species of breeding birds. It’s an important stop-off point for migrating birds, and home to 1,763 pied wagtails.

There is plenty of unimproved chalk grassland in Sheepcote Valley, far more attractive than the farmers’ fields in the neighbouring Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Among 56 varieties of plant (why, oh why couldn’t they have got Heinz to sponsor the survey?) bee orchids flourish, by conning gentleman bees to try to mate with them. Other little flying creatures, particularly butterflies, have more success in breeding.

East Brighton Park was first laid out in 1825. The Valley is home to Whitehawk Football Club and a Caravan Club site that has won a gold David Bellamy award and supports an imaginative programme of nature conservation.

The restoration of the former landfill tip has not resulted in a “brownfield site”, but has produced restored downland terracing, using chalkland turf removed imported from Bevendean. Even the “derelict tarmac” has a purpose, as a habitat for lizards who use it to bask in the sun.

The area is actively managed, and its status as protected countryside is confirmed in the new Local Plan. A continuing cycle of work projects ensures that sensitive restoration work will carry on for years. And, unlike the AONB near Falmer, hundreds of local people are committed, regular users of the Valley, proving its status as a very important community asset.

We learned all of this from the evidence of three wonderful witnesses – Jane Hawkins, Harry Pugh and Ann Barker – who plainly love their local green space and are totally committed to seeing it flourish as public open space. Not because they don’t want a stadium, but because they have been working for years to make that open space what it is today.

And that’s the point. Falmer has “views”. Sheepcote Valley is used by people – real people – who are involved in creating the treasure that attracts folk to use it. Health improvement is an important objective of the people who use Sheepcote Valley, with an established and expanding programme of HealthWalks. Nowhere else in East Brighton offers the same opportunity for such enriching public access.

Those of us who heard this evidence were left in no doubt about the passion that the Friends of Sheepcote Valley have. They hadn’t just turned up at the Inquiry to grumble about the prospect of a football stadium. They were there to persuade the Inspector that, in environmental terms, the Valley was a public asset that cannot be dismissed as merely an old tip.

It worked for me. Ms Hawkins, Mr Pugh and Mrs Barker know what they are talking about. And they didn’t crumple under questioning from Lewes District Council, who plainly aren’t bothered about the Valley.

Indeed, Robert White, the lawyer for Lewes, was obviously rattled by what he heard. His attempts to question Mr Pugh got him a yellow card from the Inspector. “Please be less aggressive in your questioning”.

But one of the best moments of the Inquiry came when Jane Hawkins tentatively asked if she could say something about the transport evidence that Lewes will soon be presenting. The thing was, she said, that the expert transport consultant employed by Lewes District Council didn’t seem to understand Naismith’s Rule. What? Naismith’s Rule. It allows hill walkers to calculate how much extra walking time it takes to cover a route, taking account of the fact that there are hills involved.

What this meant was that the claim that Sheepcote Valley is an easy walk from railway stations is simply nonsense. The hills would mean that walkers – and we are not talking about fit, experienced ramblers here – would sit shivering in pools of cold sweat while they watched their football at a Sheepcote Stadium. “It would put people off walking for life”.

So there we have it. Sheepcote is supported by people who have no idea of the transport issues. It is supported by people who don’t understand the importance of public open spaces. It is worse than Falmer, whichever way you look at the arguments.

All in all, a very good day at the Inquiry.