Forwards, back, up, down and around again

One would love to say hooray for the alternative plan for Barangaroo, but it is only marginally better than the horrendous over-development of the Lend Lease scheme (''New Barangaroo vision pulls hotel back from harbour'', February 19-20). It falls well short of offering a mature and inspired alternative. A lot more work is needed for that.

A comparison with the development of Barcelona's waterfront for the 1992 Olympic Games, which dealt with similar issues on a grander scale, reveals the lack of imagination and inability to confidently shape the overall civic form and match it to a credible parkscape: the park is imprisoned between low-rise housing and two cruise ship berths.

True, the lower 35-storey tower is a step in the right direction, but again the layout is pedestrian, and as for the insensitive square headland park, one really shudders.

A plague on both schemes. There is no rush - government should start again. In time, I am confident an appropriate solution will be found, but neither Lend Lease nor the architects' alternative hits the target.

Philip Drew Annandale