The news that the Grand Ocean Hotel in Saltdean is not to take in asylum-seekers has been generally welcomed.

While some of the opposition was racist in nature, more of it was because of a genuine concern that a small suburb like Saltdean would find it hard to cope with an influx of up to 600 people at one time.

They would have put a strain on local services, such as schools and doctors' surgeries.

It was also never clear whether the hotel owners were keen on accepting them.

But there is no doubt asylum seekers will have to go to induction centres somewhere. Bigger towns and cities, perhaps like Brighton and Hove, will have to play their part.

More than ten years ago, hundreds of Sudanese refugees came to Brighton and Hove. They are now a permanent part of the community.

The Home Office is largely to blame for causing trouble in Saltdean, through the sloppy way it dealt with the affair.

It gave no proper notice to Brighton and Hove City Council, the local authority, and then suddenly withdrew a proposal which had been made without detailed research.

Now the people of sedate Saltdean and nearby coastal settlements can concentrate on another issue of note.

Whereas there were divisions over the asylum-seekers, they are united in not wanting a sewage works anywhere near their homes.