We should like to answer Anthony Cort (Letters, January 16). My father-in-law moved to Brighton in Victorian times.

My mother-in-law came from the North in the Twenties. I came in the Sixties to go to college as I was keen to live in Brighton. When does a person cease being labelled "from out of the city"?

Labelling is a dangerous association which has led to many of the problems of the world.

New people come because they are attracted by the charm and facilities the city offers.

It is our duty to try to protect it for future generations. There are many examples around the world of centres that have lost their identity and connections.

There are many examples in Brighton and Hove of areas that have been cleared and redeveloped, producing a mismatch of ideas and confusion in architectural forms.

We have to move forward but how we do needs careful thought - not on a piecemeal basis but by looking at the whole.

For a significant development, the architect and developer should run a pub-lic participation exercise, at their cost, before a planning application is made.

The public would get more time to think about what is reasonable and would not have the environment affected with no foreknowledge or little time to co-ordinate thoughts.

Current procedures are not working. There seems to be no policy on high-rise buildings in the city.

We do not want a piecemeal encroachment on the skyline. Thought needs to be given to how some high-rise buildings could be developed within an overall city plan.

Views from the Downs and elsewhere would then not look down on a jigsaw puzzle of shapes that do not fit. Why ruin the unique environment we are lucky to have?

A policy on development of high-rise buildings in Brighton and Hove is needed, with public participation.

-Ray and Sally Amis, Cornwall Gardens, Brighton