I have been reading Brighton Marina's new masterplan for the future.

I wondered if Brighton's visionary, Dr Anthony Seldon, had been talking with town planners Holmes Anthill.

The proposals constitute a massive investment and, if plans are approved, the Marina would be a very different place.

It is a surprise to many there is room for more development.

How wrong we were.

There would be significant building on the spending beach and clusters of new residential building overlooking the harbour entrance. Some of these buildings would be as high as the cliff top.

There is much about the scheme that I like. Over the years, the Marina has grown in fits and starts under a variety of different owners. It has become a bit of a mess.

Parkridge's interesting, new waterfront building seems a little out of scale. But never mind, it's certainly more attractive than Jackson's Wharf.

It causes concern that the so-called seaside part of the development is assuming less importance as time goes by. Of course, it is understood the future of the Marina is dependent on residential and commercial development.

Last week, there was an article in The Argus about disappointed sailors who are still trying to secure a proper club for their operations. The club is not an elitist organisation. Far from it, it includes divers, fishermen, boat owners, yachtsmen and their crews. It gives excellent sailing courses for beginners. The racing fleet, with its gaily coloured spinnakers, is a splendid unpaid advertisement for the Marina.

When the Marina was opened, the Marina Company provided an old steamer, The Medina, as a club house. It was nobody's fault that it sank but it was understood that there should be proper provision for a club.

There was the venture into fish farming and trays of crabs on the quay, plans for dinghies to be sailed from the spending beach and the yacht club membership, previously 800, is now about 400.

Despite new investment, the number of moorings in the harbour, once over 2,000, is now estimated at 1,200. A further reduction in boats and activity will surely be bad for the Marina.

I wish Philip O'Callaghan, managing director of Parkridge, a Newcastle supporter who plays football on Clapham Common, well.

Get together and put a bit back. Give the boat people a proper home at the Marina entrance and, while you're about it, let's have some grass, a children's playground and access to the beach.