Controversy marked the opening of the Brighton Marina planning inquiry.

In the first exchange of a hearing expected to last more than a month, lawyers for Explore Living, the developer that wants to build 1,300 new homes at the marina, revealed they were making veteran Conservative MP John Gummer a late addition to their list of witnesses.

The announcement prompted calls of “shame” from an audience of more than 100 residents at the East Wing of the Brighton Centre, where the public hearing will continue for the next five weeks.

They were upset Mr Gummer, the MP for Suffolk Coastal, was becoming involved despite having no connection to the Brighton area.

The politician, who was Environment Secretary between 1992 and 1997, is chairman of environmental consultancy Sancroft International, which acts for Explore Living’s owners Laing O’Rourke.

He will speak in support of the proposals for seven tower blocks to be built at the western end of the Marina, on a site currently occupied by Asda, a multi-storey car park and McDonald’s.

Mr Gummer’s involvement upset not only opponents of the scheme, who said the late addition was unfair, but also local Conservatives who have tried to stop the development.

Tory members of Brighton and Hove City Council were instrumental in the vote last December which rejected Explore Living’s plans despite them being recommended for approval by city planners.

The council Conservative cabinet, led by Mary Mears, has since unveiled a new city blueprint which if adopted would allow half the 1,300 homes Explore Living has proposed.

Conservative Simon Kirby, the party’s parliamentary candidate for Brighton Kemptown, has been an outspoken opponent of the scheme.

It is understood the Tories are expected to put pressure on Mr Gummer not to take up his scheduled appearance on December 3.

Mr Kirby joined the audience yesterday, along with Councillor Lynda Hyde, chairwoman of the planning committee.

Coun Mears attended part of the session, as did Councillor David Smith.

Councillors Hyde, Mears and Smith represent the Rottingdean ward, which includes the marina.

The hearing was opened yesterday by Government planning inspector Martin Pike, who was called in after Explore Living appealed against the council’s rejection of its plans last year.

At the end of the inquiry he will present a report to Communities Secretary John Denham, who will make the final decision on the scheme.

Mr Pike said he expected to have finished his work by the end of February.

He said: “I have received lots of letters and a petition from some of the groups here.

I will take all the representations into account.”

During the next few weeks he will hear evidence and cross-examinations from lawyers representing the council, the developers and residents’ groups Save Brighton, Marine Gate Action Group, the Kemp Town Society and Brighton Marina Resident’s Association.

He will also take representations from members of the public.

The council’s £250,000 legal team is being led by Morag Ellis QC, one of the most highly-regarded planning lawyers in Britain.

The proposals include one 28-storey tower, named Marina Point, and four others which will be taller than the clifftops behind the marina.

There will be parking for 1,471 cars and 2,221 bicycles, new roads and walkways, public spaces, a community hall, a rebuilt Asda and McDonald’s and other amenities.

The council turned the plan down saying the site was being overdeveloped and the housing was too small and substandard.

Explore Living’s lead lawyer Keith Lindblom QC said the plans had been drawn up to meet needs identified by the council After the council and developer opened their cases the residents’ groups made passionate pleas against the plans.

Brian Simpson said the developers had shown little care for the natural beauty of the cliffs, the “forest” of ship masts and the glistening water of the Channel.

He said: “For them all that glistens is money.”

Robert Powell, from the Marine Gate Action Group, raised concerns about the size and quality of the development.

He said: “I’m not a Nimby, I’m a Bimby.

I want the best in my backyard.

We’re determined to resist the cramming of people into such a small space.”

Peter Martin, chairman of the Brighton Marina Residents’ Association, said: “The proposal is a massive overdevelopment.

It is a tick-box application for a high-rise, high-density housing estate which threatens to repeat the housing disasters of the 1960s.”

Peter Phillips, of the Kemp Town Society, said if the appeal was successful it would have damaging consequences for people in the area around the marina.

He said: “The proposed development is repugnant to the local community.

It will be unsustainable, demanding of them to live with lost views, increased traffic, difficulty in parking and gridlock in the marina.”