Why should the Brighton station development in its current form be rejected?

Everyone agrees the site has lain derelict for far too long and no one would disagree we have a desperate need for new housing.

It should be rejected because, at its centre, is a supermarket with parking for 194 cars (November 7).

I can imagine many people who do not live in the immediate vicinity of the site welcoming the idea of a new Sainsbury's supermarket in the city centre. But will the reality be so convenient?

If the developers' own estimates are correct, the development will result in an extra 5,000 daily car journeys or a 25 per cent increase on current levels of traffic in the surrounding roads.

The development does not propose any changes to the surrounding streets. It is possible that the developers' estimates are conservative.

More incredible still is that some people are trying to claim the development will have no impact on traffic in the local area.

Is there really anybody out there who, hand on heart, without their fingers crossed behind their back, can claim a large supermarket with parking for 194 vehicles will operate without generating a large amount of additional traffic?

Then imagine London Road: With the developers' estimate of an 80 per cent increase in turnover at the new store, will Somerfield, the Co-op or the Open Market survive?

It does not have to be this way. Not even the developers claim it would be uneconomical to make this a housing-led project. They would just like the extra profit and up-front money a supermarket development would create.

To place commercial interest above the needs of the city runs not only contrary to government planning policy guidelines but also to Brighton and Hove City Council's own Local Plan.

The council has within its power the right to delay this application and allow the scheme to be debated as part of the public enquiry into its Local Plan. What is two months' delay in a debate that has lasted years if it means getting it right?

-Steve Novak, St Peter's Place, Brighton