Multiplex would be expensive mistake

Chichester Gate is a depressing place to look at with its brick, windowless box of a cinema surrounded by chain restaurants and a Premier Inn hotel, but at least it is tucked away out of sight.

St Modwen is now telling us that Apollo’s venues are more than cinemas and that films take up 78 per cent of screen time while the rest consists of live shows and sports fixtures.

Is the multiplex now going to be in competition with the proposed enlarged theatre as well as our highly regarded cinema?

Mr Seddon, St Modwen’s London regional director, sounds like a pushy salesman trying to sell unwanted products by threatening us with having to grasp this asset with no other choice and think ourselves lucky.

The idea of a quality restaurant in Hotham Park is an interesting one, perhaps more enjoyable in summer than in winter, but couldn’t there be a similar one facing our seafront with first-floor windows overlooking the sea? This would certainly be likely to attract residents and visitors alike.

Will Harvey and Abbey Wilkinson are like a breath of fresh air with their ideas to brighten up the town and have captured the essence of the place when they say it offers a compact, attractive town with a fantastic beach and seafront.

They also have some excellent ideas for the use of the outside space around the Regis Centre to which I would add the possibility of a temporary ice rink at Christmas time which would be great fun, and a multi-purpose hall inside the building to replace the one that was there before.

Mrs J Fricker

Ludlow Close, Aldwick