A £400 million scheme to redevelop the Brighton Centre will fail if the controversial King Alfred housing and leisure complex is rejected, business leaders have warned.

Council leaders today revealed they are in talks with major firms to pay for the largest city centre development in modern times.

Investors are being wooed to finance a £100 million state-of-the art conference venue to replace the ageing Brighton Centre.

In return they will be allowed to build lucrative new homes, shops, a four-star hotel, cinemas and other leisure facilities on part of the site currently occupied by the centre and Kingswest Building.

But Tony Mernagh, executive director of the Brighton and Hove Economic Partnership, said investors would be scared off if Frank Gehry's £290 million King Alfred complex on Hove seafront is blocked.

He said: "Investors will not want to pump ten or 12 million pounds into a planning application if they have reason to believe it will be rejected. Refusing King Alfred will be like putting a sign up saying Brighton is closed for business."

Brighton and Hove City Council has announced it is committing £150,000 to work out the ambitious Brighton Centre plans.

Council leader elect Simon Burgess said: "This development must be built at minimal cost to the council tax payer and we are now involved in selling the potential of other developments on the site. The next few months will be key, and we are hoping to make a significant announcement on the plans later this year."

The aim is to turn Brighton and Hove into an international conference and exhibition destination to rival the likes of Dubai, Munich and Paris in time for the 2012 London Olympics.

The council is in talks with owner Standard Life Investments to bulldoze the Kingswest Building and tie in Churchill Square shopping centre.

Coun Burgess added: "This is the most important development for the city in many years and key to the economy, that is why we are investing money from next year's budget to hire the expertise we need to move things forward."

He also said high-rise buildings could be part of the plans, as long as they did not obscure views of listed buildings.

One key aim of the scheme is to link the seafront and Brighton's main shopping quarter. One plan would allow Churchill Square to be extended to allow views of the sea.

Mr Mernagh said the development would have the same effect as when the current Brighton Centre was built about 30 years ago.

"It will bring hundreds of millions of pounds into the city and with it thousands of jobs.

"It is the single most important development in the city for the next 20 years but there is a real danger it will not happen.

"Unless there is a reasonable chance of planning applications being granted developers will run for the hills, and they will be watching the King Alfred scenario closely."

Plans for a 420ft skyscraper to be the centrepiece of a £265 million development at Brighton Marina were rejected by the council's planning committee last year. The King Alfred planning application will be considered later this year.

Monday, February 20, 2006