Adam Trimingham (December 5) provides a timely reminder of how tall buildings have blighted areas of Brighton and Hove.

Theobald House, Nettleton and Dudeney Lodges, Chartwell Court and Sussex Heights are all regarded as tragic mistakes that should never have been built.

Of Sussex Heights, he says: "You can only wonder at the audacity in proposing so awful a building in such a sensitive place."

However, planning officials are now making supportive statements for the construction of high-rise buildings on sites surrounded by Victorian housing.

An 18-storey block is proposed for Hove Esplanade and a 16-storey block for the Endeavour site to the south of Preston Park.

The claims this time are the designs are bold and creative, with cladding of blue tiles and even unusual gold crowns.

I recommend the members of the planning committee remind themselves of how such buildings dominate an area by walking through the roads in the North Laine.

Theobald House can be seen from most of the roads, rising up above rooflines and towering over the small terraces.

It is out of scale, out of keeping and does nothing to enhance its surroundings. It doesn't matter what design these buildings have, it is their sheer size that blights the area.

The proposed buildings in Hove Esplanade and Preston Park would dominate large areas of housing.

The atmosphere of the conservation areas would be lost by the intrusion and constant presence of designs that make no pretence at being aware of their surrounding environment.

These proposals, with other similar schemes in the North Laine, should not be treated in isolation - approval of one project could set a precedent for future applications for high-rise developments.

It is essential the planning committee ensures there is a much wider debate on such buildings so the mistakes of the past do not happen again.

-Malcolm Dawes, Chairman, Brighton Society, Rugby Road, Brighton