On October 8 Brighton and Hove City Council’s planning committee overturned the planning officers’ recommendation to allow a block of flats to replace the ice rink in Queen’s Square.

The site is a terrible eyesore and has been derelict for over a decade. There were 13 letters of objection to the planning application.

On July 16 Brighton and Hove planning committee accepted the officers’ recommendation to allow destruction of the Hippodrome, which is still a very beautiful building.

There were 130 letters of objection, a petition with nearly 12,000 signatures and a plan to restore the Hippodrome as a theatre that was ignored.

The committee also voted to allow Brighton Open Air Theatre more flexibility in operating times than officers had recommended.

The officers had told the developer of the retail/cinema scheme for the Hippodrome that the city has enough theatres, so the theatre option for the Hippodrome was dismissed.

Is this a blatant case of double standards? Or is the council now prepared to rethink its previous decision about the Hippodrome?

There is a viable scheme for theatre restoration. The councillors who said they would prefer a theatre could have their wish.

All they have to do is apply the same standards to the Hippodrome that they used for the ice rink and the BOAT.

The city, our local economy, theatre and the nation would thank them for decades to come.

David Fisher Our Brighton Hippodrome Missenden Lodge