'For the next generation', Cllr David Watkins outlines his position on the King Alfred

11.26.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 27th Mar 2007

In an article, first published in The Argus on Tuesday, 27th March 2007, Councillor David Watkins outlines his views on the King Alfred.

My main concern was to make the right decision - if there was any pressure it was pressure to do just that.

Councillors are always under pressure, no matter what the decision we are asked to look at or take.

But I want to make this clear: The decision was my decision, and nobody else's.

There was no party line, unlike what appears to be the case for other parties, and although there were many people trying to push me one way or another, I came to a conclusion which I felt was the right way to go.

I didn't want to be influenced by anyone so I kept myself in isolation before the vote.

I had a number of letters from local people in support of the King Alfred as well as asking me to reject it.

A lot of correspondence came in from the younger members of the community asking me to vote for the King Alfred.

But I didn't receive very much from the business community, despite reading about their lobbying in The Argus.

We had to have a good reason to say "no" and not liking the design wasn't that.

I still do not know if I like the King Alfred design, but I think that this is not something we have should take into account when considering planning issues.

I am not an expert on design and it would be wrong for someone to have rejected this opportunity on these grounds.

But The King Alfred will be a landmark building and will make a statement about the city.

This will be a design by one of the world' great architects and it really reflects the diversity and dynamism of the city.

It will help the seafront attract tourists from all around the world, and we will have a full house with the i360, King Alfred and the Marina.

I think it was time to make a decision.

To have sent this back would have set the city back many, many years.

We did need to make a decision because it is easy to prevaricate and to delay in the hope that something else comes up, but we were elected to make decisions.

On a planning committee you make your choices not just for your ward but for the whole community, and I feel this was the right one.

I was concerned about overdevelopment but to have that many homes on a small sites is something we may have to get used to in the future.

I can understand what the protesters were concerned about but I am convinced they were wrong about this one.

And we have other areas of the seafront, like the Brighton Centre, that must be redeveloped.

I felt that these development could be affected if we refused planning permission, and that was on my mind.

I certainly felt it was time that the council addressed the sporting agenda in this city.

We do have the Falmer football stadium to look forward to and that will give access to the athletics track in Withdean.

Black Rock, we hope, will give the city an ice skating rink and I think it is right that we do as much as we can to promote sport.

We are promoting a healthy lifestyle to future generations and King Alfred will give us an excellent facility, not just for swimming, but for a whole host of sports.

And it is not just any sports centre, it is designed by the people who are responsible for the London Olympic stadium and Arsenal's Emirates stadium.

It also gives us a unique opportunity to find affordable housing for the community.

If we are going to house the population of the future then we are going to have to make decisions that are sometimes unpopular.

I hope that when it comes to the election, people look at what I have done for the last four years and not just this vote.