Regarding recent publicity against the West Pier development, as usual it appears the people with the least to contribute have the loudest voices.

Clive Buxton's organisation, SOS, while enjoying views to France, has missed the obvious point that the seafront of Brighton and Hove really does need saving - saving from self-appointed guardians of the traditional seaside town and attitudes responsible for the seafront's historic decay.

The west front is littered with examples of rotting potential - shabby Regents Square and its seedy underpass, the Victorian bandstand and former public convenience (rusted and now, thankfully, bolted shut) and the grand West Pier itself, a refuge not just for the birds but, this winter, an over-dosed heroin user found dead.

The condition of Eugenius Birch's masterpiece is a local and national disgrace, symptomatic of the peculiar English tendency to take note of the opinions of negative vocal pressure groups.

SOS implies it is easy to raise £15 million to match the Lottery contribution. If this is the case, SOS should devote its energies to searching for it.

Instead it chooses to act as a wrecker, peddling misinformation in the name of residents it does not represent.

Its policies will only serve to delay the inevitable development of the front but at the expense of its greatest feature, the West Pier itself.

The West Pier Trust should be supported in its attempt to restore a magnificent piece of architectural heritage, providing in the process some high-class facilities that will benefit the majority of Brighton and Hove residents and visitors alike.

-Matt Aeberhard, Adelaide Crescent, Hove