As borough Planning Officer of Brighton for nine years before retiring in 1983 and now a campaigner against the King Alfred proposals, I am sure to be asked for my views on the Brighton Eye.

I know only too well the detailed investigations which will have to be undertaken by Brighton and Hove City Council but, with the coverage in The Argus, a briefing by Rachel Clark of the Brighton West Pier Trust and my past experience, I can venture a personal opinion.

I say - go for it.

I am particularly influenced by the fact the seafront from West Street to the Hove boundary in rather a hotchpotch, lacking the harmony of that to the east and west.

Perhaps in a subtle way this even contributes to Brighton's raffish image. While there are fine individual buildings, especially the Grand, Norfolk and Metropole Hotels (although I wish the latter still had its spirelet), in contrast, other buildings are, architecturally, rather unfortunate - I think one even rivals Anston House in Preston Road as the ugliest in town.

It was Regency Square which initially gave me the greatest cause for concern.

However, although it still has character, it has suffered since the Sixties, overwhelmed by the mass of Sussex Heights and spoiled by the surface clutter of the audacious underground car park.

It was a coincidence that I had just written to The Argus about the Eiffel Tower in connection with the King Alfred (Letters, April 4) before learning of the Brighton Eye.

This proposal has something of the elegance of Eiffel's masterpiece (although not much more than half the height), in complete contrast to the massive, grotesque scheme for the King Alfred.

It would certainly attract not only tourists but city residents as well.

If the council did want to consider an alternative site set back from the seafront, I have already welcomed the proposal to redevelop the ageing Brighton Centre and Kingswest building, and Brighton Eye could possibly be incorporated there.

However, I am impressed by the proposal to link the scheme to the restoration of the West Pier, initially to tidy up the wreckage, but eventually even to provide a walkway out to the island site.

The council would need to subsidise this if they went for the alternative.

I wish the Trust and architects Marks Barfield well.

-Ken Fines, Hove