A giant shadow could be cast over parts of Preston Park if the redevelopment of a tower dubbed Brighton’s ugliest building gets the go-ahead.
Multimillion-pound plans to redevelop Anston House in Preston Road would see the nine-storey building replaced with flats in blocks up to 15 storeys high.
The building on the 1.5-acre site has been derelict for 20 years. There are iconic portraits in the windows of four of the floors.
New drawings submitted to Brighton and Hove City Council show the 231 flats and offices would cast shadows over Preston Park in the winter.
A public meeting is being held to discuss the development on March 5 from 8pm at St Luke’s Chuch in Old Shoreham Road.
Fliers recently dropped to neighbours said: “We welcome the demolition of nine-storey Anston House. However is this the right building for this location?”
'Grotesque monster'
The meeting is being supported by The Brighton Society, Prestonville Community Association, Preston and Patcham Society and Residents of Dyke Road Drive.
When the plans were submitted in July last year Simon Gawthorpe, of Urban Splash, the regeneration firm which is leading the project, said: “The location of the building is in one of the ‘tall building corridors’ identified by the council and it is the right place in which to build a fairly dense residential development.”
Objector and Dyke Road Drive resident Allan Grainger said: “Anston House might be an ugly building but we don’t want to replace it with a grotesque monster.
“We don’t want Brighton to become a mini London with lots of skyscrapers.
“We’re not against development but we want it to be appropriate.”
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