Secondly, whilst I am in support of a sailing club and may even consider joining, I am disappointed that whenever I look out of my window or walk by the club, there are indeed ‘35 Catamarans and 5 small craft’ on the beach and that it seems is where they stay! I have yet to see any of them sailing, even when we have had such wonderful sailing conditions, namely sunny windy weekends!

I for one, who will be affected as I live just across the road from the proposed site, am fully in favour, though I guess I will complain about the queues when they run all along the front!

Brighton needs these things to be a modern vibrant city. Bring it on!

I don’t object the design or position of the proposed i360 viewing tower, but it is just pointless, and comparisons with the London Eye are fatuous. London has many important landmarks which make a trip on the Eye an interesting experience. In comparison Brighton and Hove has nothing to offer and half the view from the i360 will just be the sea. But, most importantly, we don’t need the i360 because we have the Downs. Take a ride on the number 2 bus and take in the view of the Downs and the sea from the racecourse. Get off the bus in Woodingdean and walk over the Downs to Ovingdean or take a longer walk on the Downs to Rottingdean. Go up to Devil’s Dyke for far reaching views of the coast to the west and the countryside to the north. Walk and get some fresh air, experience the countryside and watch the light changing on the sea. Don’t take an overpriced ride up and down in a glass doughnut just because it is the latest craze. Howard Bayley is wrong to say that the i360 will “put us on the map”, the city’s geography put us on the map years ago.

Brighton and Hove City Council are always talking about sustainability and encouraging people to take exercise. Why are they supporting the i360? The natural features of the city provide more than the i360 can ever hope to offer, and all for nothing.
The reason the council want development is to bring money to the city and this thinking takes over from their other ideas; they are just image and no substance. Business, tourism and development are all they think about. What about the residents of the city? Brighton and Hove only exists through the council. Nobody uses the city name on their postal address. Nobody says that they live in Brighton and Hove. The council only sees the central part of the city, the tourist part, and the city is either neglected or overtaken by tourist development.

Of course, we need tourists, and the council has done an excellent job in improving the King’s Road Arches area and keeping the beaches and this area in a good condition. However, in winter everywhere is closed. Worst of all, at weekends the city centre becomes a no-go area for anybody over about 25 after about 10pm and this should not be accepted as “a fact of life”. The council boasts about being a “centre of excellence” for the way in which it handles the “night-time economy”. As we have now seen on the TV programme “Brighton Beach Patrol” this means flooding the city centre with police so that the most intoxicated and troublesome can be moved out of the centre to allow the rest to continue getting drunk, until in turn they are also moved on. We have seen people who unable to stand being told that they will not be allowed into bars and clubs but nobody thinks to ask why nothing was done to prevent them getting into this state in the first place. Nobody cares about the long term effect on their health from excessive alcohol consumption. It doesn’t matter to our council when the money is rolling in.

The further east you go in the city the more neglected it becomes. Finally, reaching Duke’s Mound you arrive at our own Sodom and Gomorrah, where outdoor sex has become an approved 24 hour a day activity. Our excellent litter team don’t reach this far and the area looks as though a bin lorry of sexual detritus has been unloaded at the top. The council and the police encourage this activity because their only concern is the protection the people who go there for sex.

Valerie Paynter is right to draw attention to the activities and development on the seafront but she has only just scratched the surface of the problems that the city is creating.

The Brighton 360i is an extraordinary opportunity to improve the area around Regency Square. At the moment the pavements are cracked, the pier area is dishevelled and is right outside the ‘premier Brighton Hotels’. What are Miss Paynter’s solutions to these problems? How is she going to ‘gentrify’ the Regency Area (a designated conservation area)? Additionally, in the thread “The London Eye does not, however, sit outside The Dorchester or The Hilton in Park Lane. Whilst the Brighton seafront is not Park Lane, neither is it the Thames where the London Eye sits on the south bank with no grand hotels behind it whatsoever. Indeed, what IS behind it of note? Anything?” She obviously has never visited the luxury 5* Marriott Hotel, the London Aquarium or the exhibition spaces at County Hall, right next the London Eye and surely placing the Eye opposite the Houses of Parliament in her eyes would be an eyesore too!? The Eye is in a designated area of historical interest and the Brighton 360i will be in a Conservation area.

As a Brightonian and a resident of Regency Square, I applaud the 360i and we do not need someone who obviously does not live in this area to oppose our 360i. Furthermore as an accomplished sailor, who has to spend a considerable fortune to own and maintain a yacht, I am even more bemused about the comments about the Brighton Sailing Club. Is it really a ’community asset’? True, it needs better premises, and could be stunning if we had a yacht marina. But it is a private club and relies on its own finances. The geography of Brighton does not lend itself to a proper yacht marina either, (unless you construct something like we already have – at vast cost). After all, sailing is an acknowledged minority sport and has such status in the Olympics. It is also a sport, just as constrained by weather, so the premise that sailing will provide the well-heeled inhabitants of hotels an all year round spectacle just does not wash. Coincidentally, how many members of the public would be watching these yachts and surfers, what research has been done?

So instead of “NIMBYism”, what are Miss Paytners solutions to the ‘problems of the drug-death capital of England’ (where does that come from!?). I have some ideas but surely the first rule of journalism is to take a balanced, fair and well researched view. This article is plainly – not.

I dont go clubbing and couldnt care less about celebraty culture but i DO have a deep love for my city and would be crestfallen to see it rust up and become a Morcombe, Hastings kind of resort. The Lanes etc are a beutiful part of this city….because we took the risk and gentrified them rather than let them turn into nasty backstreets!

I dont want some bling bling hell on the seafront, but as most Brightoners agree (well certainly my friends and family anyway), the i360 is not a monstrosity….it’ll work there (of course its all a matter of opinion). The Hotels need to be consulted fully…they’ll know whether it’ll be good for them or not. I dont know…i sometimes feel i’m a lone voice in this city in being in favour of developments. Although the Gehry Towers debate i’m steering clear from as i do not live in Hove (so am less qualified to comment maybe).

There is no need to associate all new and interesting ideas to “chav culture”. Although i agree, Sailing is a lovely sport/hobby…But basketball and football are very very popular…having facilities for them on our prize attraction (the beach) is logical do you not agree?

Ollie

The London Eye is wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. The London Eye does not, however, sit outside The Dorchester or The Hilton in Park Lane. Whilst the Brighton seafront is not Park Lane, neither is it the Thames where the London Eye sits on the south bank with no grand hotels behind it whatsoever. Indeed, what IS behind it of note? Anything?

The Grand Hotel and Metropole Hotel are big ticket hotels; and do you really not believe the sea brings people here and could be bringing many more for more than a dip in the sea and a sit in the sun on the beach? Do you REALLY equate quality and wealth only with the elderly? Tell that to the likes of Roman Abramovitch!

Skank-chic, heroin-chic and chav are fine for the likes of Jordan, head-bangers and Amy Winehouse; but please, can we do other kinds of chic too for the sake of “diversity” (!) ?????

The Brighton i360 is the first central-seafront project that Brightonians were truly generally immediately in favour of. Let’s get it built to put us really on the map with a prominent feature that, although modern, will certainly not detract in any way from the facade of the existing buildings facing the sea.

I think it will be a masterpiece, where the ghastly egocentric-Ghery development will be a total monstrosity.

lets back the i360, i think the design looks nice. I think it is entirely possible to build a new brighton centre, i360 AND have a strong sailing club too!

pleae dont get caught up with all the conservatives who want to smother this town’s spirit! The opposition to Ghery’s towers was bad enough!!

lets build and keep brighton interesting!

Ollie