Lesley Hixon reports on the growing controversy threatening to scupper plans to transform the West Pier and Hove seafront.

The last of the ugly metal barriers that obscured the Aquarium Terraces development this summer have gone.

While the development has not been without its critics, it is difficult not to be impressed by the scale of the project.

Three years ago, few of the site's attractions were making money and it was crying out for a facelift.

Developer Comco Holdings spent more than £5 million restoring the 80-year-old terraces and creating a modern complex it hoped would attract franchises.

There was renewed scepticism when delays and missed deadlines plagued the development and deals with nightclub Cream and Brighton-based pub and club chain C-Side collapsed.

Then, last month, club operator Po Na Na and pub chain The Purple Turtle secured premises there, leaving only three empty units.

But further along the coast, plans to restore the dilapidated West Pier is already attracting opposition.

Planning permission has been granted for the Grade I listed landmark but to make the project viable, developers St Modwen need to build two large buildings on either side of it, leaving a gap to preserve views of the pier itself.

The Heritage Lottery Fund had offered up to £14 million so work can go ahead but this is now on hold because of a legal challenge by the Noble Organisation, which owns the Palace Pier.

The proposed buildings, containing restaurants and shops, would stretch almost from the Al Fresco restaurant to the eastern end of the old paddling pool.

Conservationists say the city does not need another large development, that it would spoil the appearance of the seafront and block out existing sea views.

However, Dave Downer, chairman of the Seafront Traders' Association, believes the terraces development and the plans to regenerate the West Pier will enhance the seafront.

He said: "These developments can only be a good thing. The terraces have been there two years now and it is just a case of getting the right businesses in, whereas the planning application for the West Pier has only just been submitted. But both are likely to attract even more people to the seafront."

The city council has already spent £1m on its Seafront Regeneration Scheme.

The scheme incorporated six phases over a six-year period. The final phase included the new paddling pool and children's play area completed earlier this year.

Other developments during the past few years have included volleyball and basketball courts and a performance space.

Mr Downer said: "This seafront has been really tidied up and has become increasingly popular. We now have two clear markets, families during the day and clubbers at night.

Bob O'Connor, general manager at the Palace Pier, said visitor numbers were up 17 per cent on 2000.

He said: "The new rides we put up last season have been a big draw and the firework displays on Saturday nights are also popular and bring a lot of families to the pier. The bands we put on at the bar and on the forecourt have also done well."

Amanda Shepherd, head of tourism at the council, said she felt the regeneration scheme had been successful because it mixed commercial ventures with free attractions.

She said: "With the regeneration scheme, we have tried to strike the right balance, with commercial ventures such as shops and cafes operating alongside free attractions such as the fishing quarter which incorporates Brighton Fish Museum.

"We are continuing to make improvements to these attractions all the time."

Rachel Clark, the West Pier's general manager, said the pier development should be seen as an extension of the council's regeneration scheme.

She said: "The council has transformed the seafront and it now looks wonderful except for one obvious exception, the area around the West Pier.

"This development would change all that.

"We are only at the stage of informal consultation but, as with the regeneration scheme, the aim is to have a mixture of shops, cafes and commercial businesses, as well as other attractions such as The West Pier Museum.

"I think many of the criticisms people have made about the scheme are due to the lack of information available about it.

"It's wrong to think sea views are going to go for example."

Regency Square Area Society has already teamed up with the Brighton Society, Hove Civic Society and Friends of Brunswick Square and Terrace to fight the plans.