Hove residents slam ‘Godzilla’ tower plans

HGP Architects’ proposal for a seaside tower scheme between Shoreham and Hove is facing a tide of opposition from local residentsThe Southampton-based practice has submitted plans for 135 homes and commercial space across a single building featuring a 20-storey tower and two 10-storey towers. The building would be by the River Ardur on the Kingsway A road, which links Brighton and Shoreham.The plans replace a consented scheme for a six-storey, zero-carbon residential scheme on the site by 2003 Stirling Prize-shortlisted practice ZEDfactory.However, the HGP scheme, for Synergy Developments, is opposed by local residents, who object to its mass and height. They say it will wall-in their approach to seafront space, and overlook and overshadow their homes.The application has received 390 objections on Brighton and Hove City Council’s planning portal – versus just four comments in favour.Peter Reeve, chair of the Kingsway and West Hove Residents Association, said: ‘This proposal is unheralded, unexpected and unwelcome.’‘The alien presence of a looming cage-topped shadow-casting skyscraper amid a near-continuous and oversized block of incongruously designed flats would better suit the set of a Godzilla movie.’The Brighton Society has also objected to the ‘massively aggressive’ scheme, arguing it would ‘create a sense of bulk and height that would appear excessively out of scale and create a visually overbearing relationship with existing low-rise housing on the north side of KingswayIt added that, if approved, the scheme would ‘set a disastrous precedent for future developments along Kingsway, inevitably leading to a continuous wall of buildings of between 10 to 20 storeys along the whole west Hove seafront and harbourfront areas.’HGP Architects and Synergy Developments were contacted for comment.