New plans are being prepared by architect Frank Gehry and the team working on proposals for the King Alfred site.

Developers Karis said yesterday that they expect to have revised plans for the £290 million project on Hove seafront ready by early September.

Brighton and Hove City Council expects to receive a new planning application for the sports centre and housing project some time in October.

Karis managing director Josh Arghiros said the new plans were being drawn-up with careful consideration given to comments made by English Heritage and the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment.

In June, the last set of plans had to be withdrawn because the two bodies said they were not satisfied the buildings would become an integral part of Hove.

Alterations are being made to the designs for the massing and appearance of the buildings surrounding the development's two central 60m-high towers.

Dutch bank ING has confirmed it would continue to back the project financially, allaying concerns raised by the council's district valuer that the project was not viable.

The news has disappointed opponents of the project who had hoped it may have been halted by the June setback.

Ken Fines, of protest group Heritage Over Vandalism Actually, said: "We do not want anything that even remotely resembles Gehry's grotesque design.

"Unless they have gone away and come back with something completely different which will fit in with the local environment, then it's not good enough."

Mr Fines, a retired council planning officer, said the site was only suitable for a development three or four storeys tall.

Internationally-renowned Gehry and his US-based team had designed the "wobbly" towers to represent Victorian women promenading on the seafront.

The original designs included eight lower blocks of up to 11 storeys. The proposed sports centre includes a 200sqm teaching pool, a 250sqm leisure pool and a 440sqm competition pool as well as a sports hall and health and fitness facility.

Councillor Sue John, who chairs the King Alfred project board, said: "I'm pleased to hear that Karis and Frank Gehry's team are pulling out all the stops to address the design issues."

Council officials said it was theoretically possible for work to start in March 2008 and be completed in September 2012 but the plans must still go through several application stages.

Work on plans for the proposed Brighton International Arena at Black Rock, near Brighton Marina, is also nearing completion.

David Pople, of Brighton Arena Ltd, said he expected a planning application to be submitted in October.

He said: "We're very pleased with the way the plans are shaping up. I know the people of Brighton are keen for it to be built. Everyone is, including me."

The centre overlooking the sea would include two ice rinks, an 11,000-seat concert hall, a 100- seat cinema, flats, a museum, recording and dance studios, bars, shops and restaurants.