It seems as though either the council will have to stump up tens of millions of pounds to support the King Alfred Centre redevelopment or the leisure complex will shrink to the point that it will barely provide for the flats above it.

Already the proposed medical centre has shrunk, transferring the burden on to other local doctors, and the amount of low-cost housing will probably shrink, too.

During the public consultation exercise, the Karis proposal was very sketchy and all the other plans got more votes from local people.

The council went with the Karis proposal because it was the "best supported financially".

Now even its financial viability has evaporated, why doesn't the council either scrap the whole proposal and spend its money revamping or redeveloping the current facilities, or go back to the original proposals by the ther bidders?

-Jon Bowen, Hove