I seem to have well and truly rattled the cage of the Campaign for a Better Brighton.

Anyone reading the Opinion page recently would have thought I had committed a crime against humanity.

All I actually did was point out that some of the changes that have taken place in Hove, such as the George Street pedestrianisation, are very popular with those of us who live here.

The letters doling out personal abuse illustrate the group's approach.

Perhaps it suspects that most people don't have the stomach for its brand of right-wing extremism and so personal insults somehow help the cause.

M. Johnson wrote that I had "only lived in Hove for a short period" (January 12). But I have lived in central Hove for 11 years and in Brighton for many years before that.

When I tried to contact M. Johnson, I discovered that he or she is neither in the phone book nor on the electoral register.

I am quite happy to absorb criticism but the most important thing is to argue about policies. The only time the campaign put its views to a genuine test at an election it ended up with a disastrous last place. I think that says it all.

-Coun Simon Battle, Vallance Ward, Hove