The current application for a development at Brighton Marina includes a 28-storey tower and a 17-storey tower that will completely obliterate longdistance views of the Brighton to Newhaven cliffs.
The white cliffs of the South Coast of England have a strong, symbolic association for the British people.
They represent the de facto border with Europe, they symbolised resistance to invasion in the Second World War and they evoke strong memories of home. Who, of the older generation, cannot recall Vera Lynn's uplifting wartime refrain about the white cliffs of Dover?
More recently, in 2007, the England rugby team were depicted standing above the cliffs looking towards France prior to the World Cup It is ironic that if the latest planning application is permitted, the cliffs will be breached by an enemy within, in the form of rapacious developers aided by collaborators in local government and the media.
To paraphase Churchill's immortal phrase: "We must fight them on the beaches."
- Robert Powell, Marine Gate Action Group Marine Drive, Brighton
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