I was disappointed but not surprised to hear the reaction of Ken Bodfish to the outcome of the council elections.

He blamed the Iraq war for Labour's lost seats and then said he intended to carry on with his programme as before, hoping that incoming councillors from other parties would not be "obstructive" with regard to the major development schemes his party supports.

This is just the sort of blind arrogance we have come to expect from Brighton and Hove City Council and is symptomatic of a regime that has held power for so long it has forgotten what its role is supposed to be.

The local council is supposed to represent local people and run local services, not dream up vastly inappropriate development schemes and then steamroller them through, flattening all local objections along the way.

Taking the King Alfred site as an example, I hope the new balance of power on the council will result in a reappraisal of the whole brief.

It would not be "obstructive" if new members should point out the absurdity of the proposed schemes. Local people were not consulted and do not want development on this scale, which is, in any case, not necessary here.

It was the council that decided a £35 million leisure centre and more than 400 flats were needed on this site.

The reason, Ken, why people (many of whom have always voted Labour in the past) have turned against you this time is that you have lost touch, either because you have not been listening to local people or because you just don't care.

-Steven Skull, Hove