Councillor Mike Middleton (Letters, April 22) reminded us Brighton and Hove City Council is seeking to raise millions of pounds by selling part of the King Alfred site to build 400 flats, albeit insisting on the highest design quality.

Would this be maintained over time?

The money raised would accrue to the public purse, to be spent on a completely new sports centre on the remainder of the site.

However, we are told by the Government that public money must be spent cost-effectively. To knock down a building that has been certified as structurally sound, although suffering disrepair, and then spend millions replacing it with another is not cost-effective use of our money.

The buildings and the surrounding areas have been allowed to fall into disrepair in recent years.

An immediate start could be made on refurbishment by employing a good team of painters and decorators, supported by professional cleaners armed with lots of elbow grease. This procedure should be followed at regular intervals.

This would work wonders for our sports centre, costing a few thousands, not the millions Coun Middleton suggested, and certainly a great deal less than the £33,400 spent so far on consultants' fees with another £245,325 set aside for next year's fees.

Like other public services, the centre requires a financial subsidy to operate and this is about £700,000 each year.

Even after selling off a major part of the site for housing development, it would still require a public subsidy to operate a new sports centre.

I hope the council adopts a pragmatic approach to the future of the King Alfred while reminding itself this is a conservation area. I wish it well in the endeavour.

-Peter S Savage, Kings Esplanade, Hove