I fear architect Alan Phillips' dream of creating a man-made Pleasure Island off the Sussex coast is a little over-optimistic (The Argus, November 11).

He talks of building his 21,000 square feet paradise on a base of shingle removed from the beaches between Shoreham and Brighton.

I have just returned from Dubai, where ruler Sheikh Al Maktoum and his family are well advanced with plans to build two palm-shaped offshore islands at Jebel Ali and Jumeirah Beach, where the Beckhams and Nevilles have already reserved luxury holiday homes.

With each palm atoll measuring about 5km by 5km, the Dubai government estimates it will need to shift more than 200million cubic metres of quarried rock and reclaimed sand for construction purposes.

These schemes - which are right on schedule because of Dubai's strict planning laws - are expected to cost well in excess of $4.5 billion.

Do the sums add for Mr Phillips' Brighton project and could it ever be finished on time by British workers?

-Richard Blackmore, Kemp Town