PLANS for the biggest building project in the history of Hove are being kept secret despite calls from councillors for them to be made public.

The £400 million redevelopment of the King Alfred is expected to include at least one tower block the size of the proposed 17-storey Sackville Gardens development to accommodate more than 400 homes in addition to restaurants and a brand new sports complex.

Developers’ competing visions for the vast infrastructure project on Hove seafront were kept confidential while they jockeyed to be awarded the contract, so that no firm would benefit from knowing another’s plans.

But the final presentations from the last two companies in the running were presented to a three-man council committee on last month, and officials still refuse to disclose any details until a decision is made in January.

Green Cllr Tom Druitt, one of those who heard the presentation, said: “I don’t think it should be done like this, I think the whole process should be more open and transparent.

“It doesn’t seem quite right for members of the public not to know.”

Tory committee member Cllr Robert Nemeth agreed that : “I’ve said all along, this would be a better decision if it were made with residents’ involvement.”

He added that one argument for secrecy seemed to stem from a fear of publicity turning the process into a ‘beauty contest’, which is one of the issues which stalled plans for a Frank Gehry-designed development on the site in 2002.

But, he added: “Even a beauty contest isn’t as superficial as it sounds.

“There is nothing wrong with the general public making a decision based on beauty, they’re going to be driving past it for the next 30 years.”

The third panel member, Labour Council Leader Warren Morgan, refused to discuss the matter with The Argus.

Samer Bagaeen, a fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors who lectures on town planning at the University of Brighton, estimated the development would dwarf the recent proposal for a 17-storey tower on the site of the old Sackville Hotel in Hove.

In order to encompass 400 homes and a sports complex on the 1.7-hectare site, he said, “it would be a very safe assumption that it would be as big as the Sackville tower.

“It might even be two towers of 17 stories.”

The three-man project board received final submissions from developers on October 11 and will present their conclusions in a closed-door meeting on January 5.

A Brighton and Hove City Council spokesman said they were under a legal obligation not to release confidential information regarding the tenders during the competitive bidding process, prior to the award of the contract.