Cheer up, Dr Geoff Lockwood (Letters, February 14).

Your effort to keep the grand old lady, the West Pier, in the public mind will not be in vain as our kamikaze city council over-populates our small strip of land between the sea and Downs.

We can't even afford to save the pier kiosk.

When power cuts become frequent and water is rationed, the sceptics will no longer brush aside the futuristic vision of energy expert David Lockie for a wind farm pier (The Argus, January 28).

A modern West Pier could not only generate power from wind but also the tide, plus distil sea water into fresh water. Such a pier would be a world attraction and very profitable.

As the city will soon be gridlocked by planning, there will be pressure for a modern pier to have an emergency service, commercial helicopter port and fast, modern ferry terminus.

Thus Brighton's heyday will return, when up to nine paddle steamers queued to ferry thousands of commuters and trippers around the English Channel.

-John Stanaway, Hove