Adam Trimingham column

The great squared terraces, crescents and gardens date mainly from the 19th century. A few fine buildings, mainly churches, were erected before that. There was a brief flurry of Art Deco architecture in the 1920s and 1930s. Notable buildings included Embassy Court on the seafront near the Hove border, St Wilfrid’s Church in Elm Grove and the Hove war memorial in Grand Avenue.

But ask anyone for good architecture of the last 75 years and you will usually be greeted with a long silence. The Amex stadium in Falmer and the Jubilee library might be mentioned but few others.

You’ll probably get more reaction if you asked what has gone. This list would probably encompass the Attree Villa, Lourdes Convent, the cottages behind Churchill Square, most of the West Pier and the Bedford Hotel.

Terrible damage was done to the town by skyscrapers, not only in themselves but also in their impact on existing areas of great merit.

Just after the Second World War, the government put forward changes to town and country planning aiming at encouraging handsome new buildings and protecting the best of the past.

They worked but only to a limited extent and it was time for a new planning framework. This has now been unveiled by Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick It gives more power to local councils and residents.

An encouraging sign is that the word beauty which was never mentioned in the original document features prominently in the new version.

It is a welcome change from the government which until now has been more focused on producing badly needed new homes than making sure they are well designed.

The skyscrapers of the 1960s were followed by the sprawling low-rise blocks of the 1970s. Then came the monumental buildings of the 1980s, squeezing more homes on to cramped sites. More recently there has been a move towards light and bright design with plenty of wood and glass but still with overdevelopment.

Good architecture was possible when some of the world’s top designers became interested in plans for housing next to the King Alfred leisure centre. Councillors selected Frank Gehry, perhaps the most celebrated architect of all, and his imaginative scheme gained planning permission but failed through lack of money. Other world-famous architects such as Richard Rogers and Norman Foster were rumoured to have been interested. I only wish they could be persuaded to provide something special for the city by the sea.

Most planning decisions are dealt with by councils. Minor applications are decided by officers and bigger ones by councillors. There are inevitable rows over controversial schemes and a few bad ones get approved. But the government plays a much bigger role in local planning than might be thought. Planning inspectors hold inquiries when developers appeal against refusals. Many unsuitable schemes have been approved in this way such as the latest for a block of flats in Kingsway, Hove, near Braemore Road.

Sometimes a minister will overturn an inspector’s recommendations and this happened with the Brighton bypass when proposals to build tunnels at the Dyke Road and Ditchling Road junctions were rejected. Yet they would have greatly improved the environment.

When John Gummer was Environment Secretary, he took a great interest in the design of the new library. He knew the resort well because his father had been a vicar there. Gummer made it clear he did not like the current proposals and a new scheme had to be concocted.

A decade earlier Tony Crosland, holding the same job, was in Brighton to speak at a dull conference. He held a press call afterwards but questions were few. The big planning issue of the day was a scheme to develop Brighton Marina and this scheme would have to go to Crosland for decision. He asked the assembled hacks for their advice.

John Connor, former editor of the Brighton Herald, who knew and loved Brighton, seized the opportunity. For a full ten minutes he outlined in detail what could be done and Crosland listened intently. Connor was particularly insistent about the need for such a landmark scheme to have top class design. When the decision was made, it was interesting to see how closely it followed Connor’s ideas. He always brushed off my belief he might have influenced the result but I think he did. There will be few people as knowledgeable and articulate as he was but they should be actively encouraged to give their views on major planning issues. We badly need more beauty in our buildings and this is one way of achieving it.