I was interested to read Chris Morley's article about the need for Brighton to maintain high design standards in its future developments.

I was, however, surprised he did not mention the Brighton station site or the plans proposed for it by the New England Consortium (NEC). This site, above all, requires architectural and design flair, not least because it will be very visible to all visitors to the city and because the city relies heavily on tourist and visitor income.

Having looked in great detail at the NEC plans and visualisation of the site, I am simply appalled at the paucity of design and the triviality of architectural vision.

The buildings being offered are simply boring, exactly the same as one would find in any small town in the UK, totally unsympathetic to the character and architecture of Brighton and Hove and will be in a very prominent place.

The skyline will be mutilated by this development. It will obscure St Bartholomew's, a Grade I listed building that deserves to be treated with more respect. Surely the architects could have come up with something - anything - better than this? We have all seen these buildings all over England. Brighton deserves better.

This proposal will be highly detrimental in the long run. Brighton and Hove City Council should get an architect with vision and guts to design a flagship building that will really reflect what the city is about, sympathetic to the past and evocative of the future. It should also ensure the development does not obscure listed buildings.

-Dr Mark Erickson, Tidy Street, Brighton