Janis Zoutman (Letters, December 13) highlights some serious flaws in Brighton and Hove City Council's planning system.

I have fought several of the large recent applications from residents' corners and have attended many meetings with those fighting over-development through my work in local politics as assistant to Nicholas Boles.

The unwanted drive to fill Brighton and Hove with flats has been triggered by the Government setting a target for the number of new homes to be built in the next few years in our city.

I would like to point out the distinction between council officers and councillors.

Officers are unelected experts in planning law and deal solely with 90 per cent of planning applications.

The councillors, elected members of the public, sit on a planning committee and deal with the remaining ten per cent after reading the recommendations made by the officers.

Objecting members of the public do not generally receive the backing of the officers but are often able to win the backing of their local councillor.

Even with this backing, they usually lose their cases due to not being able to outwit the expert officers.

In a city such as Brighton and Hove, population density is directly related to quality of life.

Somebody needs to say enough is enough.

-Robert Stuart Nemeth, Hove