On August 18, 1998, I proposed the motion to the members of the Brighton and Hove Debating Society that the "West Pier should be blown up".

This is still my opinion. The motion, not unexpectedly, was lost.

At that time, it had recently been announced the Pier Trust had been granted some £14 million and business interests would match it.

Obviously the businessmen with a co-ordinating company would not proceed out of altruism and would have put forward plans.

In the intervening three-and-a-half years nothing has happened.

Trying to link the Pier Trust with business is like trying to mix oil and water without an emulsifying agent. Now the do-gooders have emerged and, if successful, will delay matters for years ahead.

If I was a businessman I would pull out. It is a highly idealistic concept to try to restore the West Pier to its former glories of the late 1800s and early 1900s.

The Lottery grant, even in 1998, would only cover the repair of the pier to deck level and the Pavilion Theatre would be down to the businessmen.

These items would give the businessmen an inadequate return and other areas need to be developed to produce profit. Brighton does not need a second pier.

It is very common for contracts to overrun and the West Pier, in my view, would not have been restored for £30 million in 1998.

By the time the protesters have finished, even if the project goes ahead, the cost would be well over £40 million. Who would fund this?

There are already large seafront "black spots" from the King Alfred centre onwards. Another properly designed building would not be an eyesore.

On balance, it all ain't worth it. Blow up the West Pier.

-P F Dakin, Langdale Road, Hove