Seeda, the regional development agency, has the right idea about the Brighton Centre.

It believes the ageing building should be demolished and replaced by a new building of top-quality design.

And so say all of us. The difficulty faced by Brighton and Hove City Council, which owns the centre, is how to achieve that.

Ideally, any development would also include the site of the ugly King's West building next door, another structure well past its sell by date.

There would be enough room on this large city centre site to build one of the best conference and entertainment centres in Britain.

The only drawback is the cost. The council certainly does not have anything like the £300 million this sort of enterprise could cost and the private sector might baulk at it.

It's just the sort of site that might need help from Seeda itself, a body set up to solve difficult development problems.

The Brighton Centre was a bold venture in the Seventies. It put Brighton on top in the conference game and the resort has stayed there ever since.

With rivals snapping at its heels, the city now needs to show similar vision to stay ahead in the foreseeable future.