Seventeen storey block proposed for Hove seafront

The 183ft (56m) residential building, which will be the tallest on Hove seafront if built, is proposed for the former Sackville Hotel site on the corner of Sackville Gardens and Kingsway.

The Hyde Group is behind the proposal, which has already split opinion ahead of a public consultation at the weekend.

Designed by Brighton-based Yelo Architects, the cylindrical tower block will feature roof gardens, balconies and penthouse apartments.

There will be 107 properties with Hyde bosses still in talks with Brighton and Hove City Council about the number of affordable homes.

There will also be a basement car park with 52 spaces and an area for 149 bicycles.

Tom Shaw, Hyde's development director for the south, described the building as "high quality" with "real architectural and design merit".

However, Valerie Paynter, from the Save Hove group, said there was not a "chance in hell" of it getting planning permission.

She said: "I don't care how desperate we are for housing in Brighton and Hove, they are not going to get 17 storeys through.

"It is completely out of keeping with the area, it would cover the homes behind in darkness and there are also issues with privacy. It's laughable really."

A planning application is expected as early as next month with work on the site starting in 2016 subject to planning permission with the block opening in 2018.

The block will have windows of different shapes and sizes all the way around and floor to ceiling glass on the top floors.

Hyde Group bosses are also proposing a play park opposite the plot between Hove Lagoon and the King Alfred Leisure Centre to go with the development.

Mr Shaw said: "We think there is great potential for the strip to the south. We are at a very early stage, and we need the council onboard, but we want to hear what people would like to see there."

While some residents are preparing an anti group, there has been support for the scheme, including from ward councillor Robert Nemeth, who lives just one block away.

He said: "Serious effort has finally gone into designing something a little more exciting than the dreadful tall buildings that have been constructed around the city in the past.

"Once the concerns of those living around the site have been properly taken on board, and acted upon, I'm confident that something spectacular will result."

Dr Samer Bagaeen, a planning expert from the University of Brighton, also urged others to back the proposal.

He said: "We have a problem here with housing and in the future matters like this are going to be taken out of our hands by the Government anyway.

"The fact of the matter is we need to build and if we need to go up, we need to go up."

An invite only consultation, for immediate neighbours, will be held at the King Alfred Leisure Centre tomorrow with another at the same venue on Saturday, from 10am to 4pm, for the wider public.

The former Sackville Hotel plot yesterday. Picture: Tony Wood

HOUSING DEMANDS MAY SEE BUILDINGS GOING UP, NOT OUT

THE city is facing a housing crisis. We need 30,000 new homes by 2030.

But with the English Channel to the south and the South Downs National Park to the north, there is nowhere to build. It is clear we cannot build out so many think it is time to build up.

Dr Samer Bagaeen, a planning expert from the University of Brighton, said we need to face the reality of going up.

He said: “I’ve just come back from a meeting in London where we were briefed on the new housing plan. Basically We were told that we are at the stage where decisions like this will soon be takewn out of our hands and it will all be decided for us.

“There is no point fighting an this application like this. If we need to go up, we need to go up.

“We need to start getting things built. It is frustrating for young people because they have nowhere to buy, it is frustrating for developers because everything they put forward gets knocked back and it is frustrating for planning officers too.”

University of Sussex lecturer Dr Geoffrey Mead has said we need a “radical rethink” in the way we use land .

He said we must “build smarter”, adding “the Dutch put something like five times as many people in their cities. We just do not have the land. We are constrained and we need to have a radical rethink.”

However many think the building of the tower at the former Sackville Hotel site will set an unwanted precedent for the area.

A developer, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “If it gets the go ahead then it sets a precedent. We will have more and more blocks along the seafront and Hove will end up looking like Miami Beach.”