REVISED plans to build a tower block on the long- vacant site of a seafront hotel look likely to be approved.

Proposals for an eight-storey residential development at the site of the former Sackville hotel in Hove will come before Brighton and Hove City Council’s planning committee next week and have been recommended for approval by officers.

The suggestion to go ahead with the scheme comes despite the plans including fewer than half the desired number of affordable homes.

The plans for the site at 189 Kingsway are unrecognisable compared with the 17-storey proposal withdrawn last year amid howls of derision from councillors and residents who dubbed the plans the “Sackville Sausage”.

A spokesman for developers Hyde said: “We are pleased council planning officers have recommended approval.

“We have worked hard to engage with the local community, holding several consultation meetings and the final plans were designed with significant input from the community.

“We are confident this scheme will be a step in the right direction to help tackle the shortage of homes in Brighton and Hove.”

The plans for the five to eight-storey building, to include about 60 homes and an underground car park, propose that only between nine and 12 of the units be affordable homes. The council’s city plan has a target of 40 per cent.

Planning officers therefore have recommended a clawback be included with the approval, leaving open the possibility of the council receiving a further payment from Hyde which could be used for social housing.

Ward councillor Tom Bewick, an outspoken opponent of the Sackville Sausage plans in 2016, said he would leave the planning decision to colleagues on the committee but stressed the importance of investing so-called Section 106 – cash from the developer for city projects – wisely.

He said: “I’m pushing hard for tangible community benefit.

“Residents are looking for something on the lawns.

“It would be helpful to create a recreational space – maybe a children’s play area alongside an exercise space for senior citizens, like the kind of thing you see on the continent.”

Officers recommend £129,000 be earmarked for such a scheme.