This first year of the new millennium (or last of the old for pedants) was a great one for Sussex, with millions of pounds being poured into projects.

It was capped by city status being awarded to Brighton and Hove.

But those of us who love the chalky county by the sparkling sea are always striving for more improvements.

Here is my own wish list of things, probable, possible, or simply pie-in-the sky, for Sussex.

My biggest single desire is for new private house building to be halted in Sussex. It won't happen, but there's an urgent need for the numbers to be reduced.

Sussex cannot sustain the consistent building of several thousand new houses a year. The sooner John Prescott or any other environment minister is made to realise that the better.

I'd like to see the South Downs made a national park as soon as possible and for the boundaries to be defined. There are some sites, such as Toad's Hole Valley, that shouldn't be in, but others north of the bypass that definitely should.

This should also stop encroachments such as the Worthing bypass being built.

The downland dual carriageway is bound to be proposed again since the A27 through the town is a mess. But if people want a bypass, it should be put in a tunnel and made a toll road. We'll then see if motorists are prepared to pay for saving the Downs.

Much the same applies at Hastings, with the eastern bypass which would go through an area of outstanding natural beauty. If this road cannot be tunnelled it should not be built.

We can't simply bulldoze beauty away for the sake of saving a few minutes in journey time.

Hastings itself needs urgent improvement. While Brighton and Hove have revived, the resort is languishing in poverty. The Government must concentrate efforts on towns like this, otherwise squalor and unemployment will only worsen.

One measure that might help is electrification of the rail line to Ashford, linking up with the rail route to France.

Another would be to restore the Polegate link, improving connections from Hastings to Brighton and London without having to go through Eastbourne. Reviving the Lewes to Uckfield line would also be welcome.

I'd like to see a start made on the new library in the new city of Brighton and Hove and on an urban village on the station site.

I want a comprehensive development of the King Alfred site in Hove that faces the sea, provides a proper sports centre and is a lively focal point for the area.

It's also high time the Aquarium Terraces opened to the public now that the scheme has been built.

Elected mayors will bring new vitality to Brighton and Hove plus many other urban areas.

As for that other great contest, the General Election, I simply hope Sussex still has representatives from each of the main parties to reflect roughly what the voters think.

My longest-standing wish of all is for the West Pier to be restored. The National Lottery grant three years ago was not the end of all the waiting but only the beginning of the end.

There will have to be some compromises made both by commercial interests and conservationists on the way, but they are essential if this grand old lady of the sea is ever to be saved from a watery grave.