COMPCO admits its development on the Aquarium Terraces, Brighton, will now not open before next Easter (Argus, August 18).

Cynics may wonder whether it ever will. Work has been going on for almost two years. The Marine Parade boundary has been boarded up and sea views lost during this time. Originally, Compco was promising to open in summer 1999. This was then put off until spring 2000.

The Argus report speaks of a leak in the roof. In fact, the roof has had to be stripped off and replaced. Just how good a build is it? I have the misfortune to overlook this ugly site. Was that part of the original design?

Compco was initially granted permission for upmarket restaurants, which has now been downgraded to cafe-bars and a pub. The proposed nightclub has expanded nearly six-fold.

Perhaps the developers and planners may yet reap the bitter reward they deserve. Perhaps the whole thing will turn out to be a huge white elephant, a memorial to bad planning and excessive development.

-Graham Chainey, Marine Parade, Brighton