A GROWING chorus of voices is calling for the King Alfred leisure centre project to be returned to the drawing board.

The groundswell of opinion being shared online follows Saturday’s revelation in The Argus that developers Crest Nicholson has asked a government funding body for an extra £10 million to cover rising building costs.

It comes after the completion date for the £400 million leisure-centre and housing-block project has been put back from 2019 to the middle of next decade.

At least six failed ventures have been launched to redevelop the site since 1969.

Cllr Robert Nemeth, who sat on the panel which chose Crest Nicholson over rival bidders Bouygues, said the time had come for the council to part company with the developer.

He said: “I feel there is a growing public support for pulling it from Crest Nicholson.”

On Twitter, former mayor and Green leader of the council, Bill Randall, responded to Cllr Nemeth’s tweet of “I say ditch Crest Nicholson” with, “So do I. Why should Brighton and Hove residents subsidise their 20 per cent profit margin.?”

Green Party activist Rob Shepherd said: “Bring back Frank Gehry!

“This what-to-do-with-KA has been going on for a generation, literally. Solved and un-solved, ad infinitum and beyond!”

He added: “That said, a tenderer who comes in low & then inflates should have to re-tender. And if new price allowed for one, then allowed for all.”

Phil Graves, managing director of property advisors Graves Jenkins, joined the debate to say: “Let’s start again - and get public consultation this time.”

On Facebook, Brighton residents’ opinions of the developers were also overwhelmingly negative. One respondent, David Vincent, said: “Sooner Crest are got rid of the better.”

Speaking to The Argus, Cllr Nemeth added that “millions” of taxpayer pounds had already been wasted on the scheme.

“There’s officers’ time - a team has been working on this for years - plus councillors’ time, plus all the money we’ve had to spend on redevelopment and renovation of the existing site.

“And when you look at the opportunity costs - if we had 600 flats pulling in £1,500 in council tax a year, that’s a million pounds a year we lose for every year we waste.”

The development agreement does not include upfront payments or any penalty clauses from either side.

Last week a Crest spokesman told The Argus: “Crest Nicholson remains committed to the project and is working together with the council to move te scheme forward.”

EDIT: This story was updated at 09.08 on August 23 to record Cllr Nemeth's analysis of the council tax take for 600 homes. A previous version of the story mistakenly suggested he had said 6,000 homes.