Hove seafront will never look the same if any of the new plans for the King Alfred leisure centre are accepted by the city council.

All three bidders for the site have employed notable architects to produce radical plans for the five-acre site. Their proposals for a sports centre and about 400 homes are all different but all go high. They range from a height of 11 storeys in one scheme to 19 in the next and 38 in the third.

The reaction of many residents will be to throw up their hands in horror at the thought of such a vast scheme being built on the island site. But before they rush to condemn all three proposals, they should go and have a look at the exhibition which includes models and artists' impressions.

Architects in each case have spent a great deal of time and trouble trying to make this a development of which Hove - and Brighton - can be proud. Whatever anyone may think of the height, the architectural quality of each scheme is immeasurably better than that of almost any other large modern development erected in the city since the Second World War.

An exhibition at Brighton Museum shows the changing face of the resort over the past 150 years. It emphasises many of the buildings we now delight in, such as the great Regency terraces, were revolutionary in their day.

It's good news councillors will take their time over considering these schemes and that any decision should be made after the elections in early May.

A decision of this magnitude needs to be taken with the next 200 years in mind rather than the next two months.