It seems there are two main problems with Brighton and Hove at the moment.

I refer of course to Tony Mernagh of the Brighton and Hove Economic Partnership, and Simon Fanshawe, of the Brighton and Hove Economic Forum.

Have the pro-King Alfred development lobby resorted to scare stories about economic failure to try and win their case?

Simon Fanshawe (Letters, February 20) has missed the point when it comes to building in the city.

It isn't a case of whether or not we should have new buildings here. New developments are inevitable.

The problem is there are no clear guidelines for planners and architects.

We are dealing with buildings in sensitive areas of a mostly beautiful Regency city. If potential investors were informed that certain criteria had to be met before an application hit the drawing board, it would save time, money and frustration on both sides.

If, as Tony Mernagh says (The Argus, February 22), potential investors are put off by the rejection of redevelopments such as at the King Alfred and Brighton Marina, so be it. If that's the calibre of investor who wishes to come to this city, we're be better off without them.

No matter what Mr Mernagh or Mr Fanshawe say, these huge, well-publicised developments won't bring real prosperity to Brighton.

The jobs which will be created by these developments will almost certainly be a new influx of cheap labour, which bring big profits to the developers but little else to the low paid.

I suggest Mr Mernagh concentrate on sorting out the economic problems faced by Brighton and Hove - slave-wage employers being the most important.

And I wonder if Simon Fanshawe believes his own rhetoric. Does he think the salaries of the low paid would keep up with property inflation? I doubt it.

By the time these developments are built, even more workers will have been priced out of the market.

The city will then become nothing more than a rich man's paradise.

We have been constantly promised economic success if we do this or do that, ever since Brighton and Hove became a city. Where is it?

Talking up a city is well and good but it means the real problems facing us are overlooked, in the mad rush for headline-grabbing news.

-DA Coles, Peacehaven