I welcome the even-handed coverage by The Argus of the King Alfred dispute, especially the opportunity for publicity allowed to The HOVA (Heritage Over Vandalism Actually) group in its opposition to the proposed tower blocks.

The Voice of The Argus (October 25) poses a question to me personally, asking if the Royal Pavilion were planned today, wouldn't it cause controversy?

The glory of our Pavilion lies in its inextricable blend of architectural and historical appeal.

If it were being proposed today, it would be utterly devoid of the latter. As with all new buildings, the planner would need to judge it in its proposed context.

In your terms, this would presumably be the present site, which in the late-1840s was to be sold by the Crown to the London builder Thomas Cubitt for housing redevelopment.

Cubitt's houses would probably be there today, designed in a late Regency style, or possibly Italianate after the style of Queen Victoria's new seaside residence, Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, where she and Prince Albert could escape those nosey Brightonians.

By now, the houses would undoubtedly be listed, as well as being in a conservation area, so if I were the hypothetical planning officer, I would surely recommend that planning permission be refused.

However, I might suggest an alternative location at the Marina or on a nearby hill as a feature in the manner of our fine Roedean School.

Thankfully, in 1851, the Town Commissioners, through the guile of their clerk, Lewis Slight, wisely stepped in and acquired the Pavilion in the nick of time.

The point I was making to your columnist, Lynn Daly, in connection with her timely article on Gehry's new concert hall in Los Angeles, was that, apart from its grotesque design, we do not need one of his "landmark buildings" to put our city on the map.

We have the world-famous Royal Pavilion in all its architectural and historical splendour, designed in its final form by a world-renowned architect, John Nash.

I hope that in judging the King Alfred towers, the council will show the same wisdom as its forbears.

-Ken Fines, Hove