It is easy to sympathise with Greg Sturges when he accuses arts funding bodies of a lack of joined-up thinking over the now defunct Gardner Arts Centre (Letters, March 30).

Brighton and Hove City Council's decision to end its £30,000 contribution triggered the collapse in financial support from the Arts Council and the University of Sussex.

The council added insult to injury almost at once by spending more than £30,000 on a celebration of love and courtship in the home of the dirty weekend, (The Argus, January 15).

It gave £5,000 to six people. That money could have entertained many more had it been granted to the Gardner.

Now the council's actions have led to the closure of this valuable asset.

It was bad enough when the University of Sussex tried to close its chemistry department. Also, the £12 million figure being bandied about for the necessary refurbishment of the Gardner building strikes me as a ludicrous over-estimate.

You could be forgiven for wondering whether the university had some kind of agenda.

If only the curtain would fall on some of the illustrious people behind this philistine move. Perhaps in May, when the local elections are held?

  • A Smith, Braybon Avenue, Brighton