I was taken to task last week in the letters page by Graham Chainey over my support for the i360 observation tower now being built on Brighton seafront.

He said that in giving what he called a puff to the venture I had never stated my interest as a board member of the West Pier Trust responsible for it.

As it happens I have in the past mentioned my being a minor member of the board and it is certainly no secret.

I’m proud to be involved and this follows my support for the trust from its earliest days 40 years ago.

It would be both boring and boastful to mention this link every time I wrote about either the i360 or the pier.

I am also concerned it might give the impression I speak for the Trust when I do not. Glynn Jones, who chairs the board, and chief executive Rachel Clark are more than capable of doing that while i360 founders David Marks and Julia Barfield are responsible for the tower.

In any case I probably do not agree with some of my colleagues and many members of the Trust in what should happen next.

Some Trust members want to see the rusting remains of the pier preserved. I contend this would be impractical and dangerous.

There are those who do not want a new pier and plenty who say any replacement should be modest.

I want to see a glorious new structure as much a symbol of this age as the West Pier was of the Victoria era but there would have to be a commercial element to make it viable.

There is also an implication that my interest in the i360 could involve cash. In fact board members are unpaid and do not claim expenses.

For the record I am connected with several other organisations. As I neither get paid by them nor speak for them in any way I feel free to comment on them, too.

In most cases there is an outlay in the form of descriptions or donations and my wife and I have given sponsorship to the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra.

I am on the panel that chooses commemorative plaques for buildings associated with people of note. I’m also a member of the Arts and Creative Industries Commission.

For many years I have been a member of the South Downs Society but do not agree with its stance on all issues.

It opposed the American Express Community Stadium at Falmer. I was in favour but felt free to help the Society with press releases while making my own view clear.

I am also a life member of the National Trust but that has not stopped me from robustly opposing in this column some decisions it has made.

Being a freeman of the city in no way constrains me from criticising the council where necessary. This purely honorary role confers no benefits on me. When I asked the council leader at the time what privileges were involved, he said: “The privilege of buying the leader of the council a drink.” So I did.

I support a number of charities including Age UK, Oxfam, the British Heart Foundation and Parkinson’s UK.

With an interest in cycling, I’m a member of Bricycles and of the cycle track building charity Sustrans. I’m a Friend of Wish Park, near my home, I’m a member of the Royal Pavilion Foundation and of the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust which looks after mental health in the county.

Professionally I’m a supporter of the Journalists’ Charity which helps hacks who are having hard times.

I could go on but then I would be in danger of writing a catalogue rather than a column.

But the point I want to make is that I often back my passion for many causes by joining societies promoting them.

I am not in any way held back by them or compelled to agree with everything they say. But I feel passionate about this county of ours and want to see it improved still further.

By writing about issues I can occasionally shine searchlights on them although it’s far easier to suggest solutions than to be people doing the actual work.

As for Graham Chainey, I always enjoy his writing and he has a deep knowledge of history.

But in his letter of March 18 he did not mention that he is a columnist for one of the many weekly rival publications to The Argus. It delights in taking pot shots at this paper. I think you should be told.