A memorial could be created for a long-serving councillor as part of a regeneration of the seafront.

City council leader Phelim Mac Cafferty said that an “artistic contribution” for the multi-million-pound Kingsway to the Sea project could be dedicated to Garry Peltzer Dunn, who served as a councillor for more than 50 years before his death earlier this year.

Councillor Robert Nemeth, who served alongside Cllr Peltzer Dunn in Wish ward, said he had received many messages following the death of his “mentor”.

In a meeting of Brighton and Hove City Council, Cllr Nemeth said: “I received so many lovely messages following the death of our dear friend and my mentor Garry Peltzer Dunn from all corners of the chamber in recognition of his inspirational contribution to council life spanning 51 years.”

He then asked Cllr Mac Cafferty whether a fitting memorial, such as naming a building, street or “a prominent section of the Kingsway to the Sea project” could be created in his memory.

In response, Cllr Mac Cafferty said he had already raised the proposal with the council’s executive director.

He said: “We need to have a fitting way to remember Cllr Peltzer Dunn and we were thinking about Kingsway to the Sea as a potential location for something.

“There is some potential use of the artistic contribution to the project.”

In a nod to Cllr Peltzer Dunn’s scrutiny of the detail of council plans, Cllr Mac Cafferty said: “What I would say, and this would be the most fitting way to remember Garry, would of course be to have a bit more detail and to accurately follow the finance.”

The Kingsway to the Sea regeneration project, expected to cost £13 million, will span the coastal strip from Hove Lagoon to the King Alfred Leisure Centre and create a new park in west Hove, including a new outdoor sports hub. 

Garry Peltzer Dunn served as a councillor for 51 years and also served as leader of Hove Borough Council between 1987 and 1981 and Mayor of the city in 2008.

Labour’s Bella Sankey, who was elected last week in a by-election triggered by Cllr Peltzer Dunn’s death, paid tribute to him in her maiden speech in the council chamber.

She said: “He was a committed public servant and gave over 50 years of service to our city. He was much loved and is much missed.”