Marina buildings must be approved

It was astonishing that a Brighton garage proprietor called Henry Cohen without much money and with no big schemes behind him could have persuaded councillors and commercial interests that it would work.

But he did, even though by the time it was ready Cohen had long since disappeared from the project.

There was so much fuss over the original site between the two piers that it was moved east to Black Rock.

But the fury was no less fierce in East Brighton. There had to be town meetings, town polls and acts of parliament to approve the Marina and the roads required for it.

Black Rock is where the Sussex Downs rush down to meet the sea. It is tremendously important visually and for its geology. But the cliffs no longer meet water and concrete covers many of the dark stones.

Most people in Brighton agreed that the prospect of hosting Europe’s largest marina was worth the environmental losses it would inevitably cause.

It wasn’t just that the 126-acre site looked alien. The roads were and are monstrously ugly and unappealing.

All sorts of stipulations were made, including one that no building should be higher than the nearby cliffs and another that work on the commercial development should not start until the harbour had been completed.

The objectors included a venerable Scottish Labour MP called Hector Hughes, who lived in Marine Gate and I often wondered what he would have said had an MP for Brighton moved to the Granite City and tried to hold up development.

Then there had to be one of the longest and most expensive public inquiries ever held into what should be on the Marina site.

After it slumbered to a halt, environment secretary Tony Crosland gave it the all clear in 1975 and then work was well under way on the harbour.

But by that time the cost of the harbour had increased fivefold and the investors were nervous. They cracked at just the wrong moment.

They sold the harbour, which had cost £50 million, to ex-boxer George Walker for £13 million and he recouped nearly all the cash on just one bit of the site, which is now the Asda superstore.

Walker made millions more out of housing built by Barratts but when other parts of his empire crashed he had to sell the Marina.

By now it was architecturally appalling. There was a hidden shopping square, drably designed, with no view of the sea and few retailing names of note.

The housing complied with the order that it should not be tall but was packed into unimaginative slabs with no nautical flavour.

Later additions such as a row of restaurants, a sports centre and cinemas were more popular but were still disappointing in design.

Andrew Goodall was the next owner, a local man with a feel for Brighton. He and others have been trying to improve the harbour ever since but nothing to do with the Marina is ever easy.

Goodall wants to build a development with attractive architecture giving the Marina a cohesive, stylish look it has always lacked.

But opponents have in a late legal challenge to the Law Lords contended that the development, which has planning permission, breaks some of the stipulations including the one on height and should be stopped.

If they win, work now well under way will have to stop and the cost will be immense. It could become a white whale, the marine equivalent of a white elephant.

I have some sympathy with the opponents although it is always interesting to point out to those in Marine Gate that their block of flats was resolutely opposed in the 1930s.

But for the good of the Marina and of Brighton this scheme must be approved. It will leave the harbour looking handsome and will encourage much-needed improvements such as a rapid transport system from the city centre.

The Marina today is radically different from the harbour envisaged by Henry Cohen in the 1960s. But the basic idea of a large yachting harbour has been achieved.

It was a great feat to build it at all despite the difficulties and opposition. It will be just as remarkable to transform it from a sad mess into a soaring success.