I noted with contempt the comments made by Brighton and Hove City Council leaders following the recent damage to the West Pier.

They appeared to be hinting the damage left them no choice but to agree to the proposed development to the left and right of the landward side of the pier.

As far as I can tell, this project is insensitive and is simply a "cash cow" for the developers.

Successive councils have had a dismal record with respect to projects around our city. Consider the following:

The Brighton Centre - enough said; the original Churchill Centre and its Eighties'-style successor; the tawdry add-ons at the Brighton Marina; the clump of bindweed that masquerades as the the Royal Pavilion Gardens of the Prince Regent; and the Aquarium Terraces project to the east of the Palace Pier, where hamburgers and slot machines have been replaced by slot machines and hamburgers. Why don't we show a little civic courage? Why don't we knock down the West Pier and design a small, sensitive and elegant museum to its passing? Why don't we use the prime-site land for the use of our citizens? - a skateboard park with spectator area, a small roller and ice-skating rink, an out-of-doors gymnasium, a boating pool, a boules area and a small jetty for the local sailors and surfers?

All too often - and I plead guilty - the citizens of Brighton and Hove allow badly designed money-grabbing projects to be imposed upon them.

Let's try to make 2003 the year we start to show a little civic pride.

Remember, we have an up-coming postal vote and should be able to think of other, non-violent, forms of protest.

Let's all start to care about this rubbish-strewn, drug-infested shabby little city.

-Patrick Dyer, Stanford Avenue, Brighton