We were told 25 years ago that the then new Brighton Centre was the bee's knees and that to sacrifice part of the roadway on the Kings Esplanade, Hove, was worthwhile to build a state-of-the-art swimming pool, good for half a century.

We are now told by the controlling Labour party that these buildings should be demolished and, in the case of the King Alfred, a monstrous over-development, rising to a height of 38 stories, will replace it.

This proposed development is too futuristic and totally out of character with Hove seafront. It would probably blend in well in somewhere like Benidorm.

High-rise flats built in the Sixties were soon found to be unsuitable for families. The worry now is Brighton and Hove City Council looks set to repeat the same mistakes.

At a public inquiry about the King Alfred site a quarter of a century ago, a far-seeing Secretary of State ruled that any buildings erected in the future on this site should not exceed 50ft, the height of the present buildings.

Prior to the council elections last May, Green councillor Bill Randall was highly critical of the plans for an 18-storey building to replace Medina House, also on the seafront at Hove.

He and his party are now prepared to support a much, much larger development just 100 yards away at the King Alfred.

This is mainly, we are told, because of the affordable housing content.

This myopic support for the controlling party on the council is too high a price to pay for the degradation of Hove seafront.

-Peter Savage, Hove