Painting the seven-and-a-half-miles of railings along Brighton and Hove’s seafront is a bit like maintaining the Forth Bridge – our distinctive railings take such a battering from the elements they regularly need repainting (Letters, October 8.) The railings along Hove seafront, from Hove Lagoon to the Peace Statue, were repainted earlier this year and most of the rest of the railings, from Duke’s Mound to the Peace Statue, will be painted by Easter ready for next year’s summer season.

The seafront is the city’s “shop window” and, like your correspondent, we want to make sure it looks its best.

Councillor Geoffrey Theobald Cabinet Member for Environment, Brighton and Hove City Council

Readers of The Argus may remember my whinge a year ago about an eyesore of a shelter at Hove Lagoon (Letters, November 11, 2009). Well, it’s still there, a rusting symbol of Brighton and Hove City Council’s lack of interest in its fringe areas.

At the start of this year it was announced that the council was going to spend £600,000 on giving the western seafront a facelift. I saw someone painting the railings but can’t work out where the rest of the money went.

If this shelter was anywhere near the Palace Pier it would not have been looking like this for the past three years. Here’s a suggestion for the council: get a scrap metal dealer to take it away.

Alan Jones
North Close, Portslade