Delighted that the much talked of and long debated Cultural Quarter for Southampton appears to have passed the final planning hurdle.

It was inevitable that Grosvenor Estate would succeed in persuading councillors to allow them to build more flats to help pay for the £40m development adjacent to the Guild Hall Square.

These are tough times and the need to be pragmatic about the need to redevelop the area of the old Tyrrell and Green site bringing in hundreds of new jobs to the city centre will have played a part. For Grosvenor the numbers needed to add up to make the project worthwhile.

The same could be said for the city residents who are expected to find almost £7m to help underpin the development.

And yes, this is the point where I re-state this paper's argument that the scarce council funds should not be used to pay for the Cultural Quarter when there are arts works worth over £150m sitting in the vaults largely unseen. The art that could pay for this development has already been identified as surplus to the requirements of the collection. The only thing apparently preventing its sale would appear to be dogma and a determination by a few to hold on to all the pretty things no matter how many children's services have to be axed and senior citizens are left without support.

We must remain true to the original Chipperfield Bequest which started the collection, these art lovers protest. Yet that original bequest stated that the art should be used to found an art gallery but also an art school, something that was never done. By selling off some of the art - art that was never part of the original bequest anyway - and funding the Cultural Quarter with its education facilities the money would be finally put to the use it was intended for.

Will this happen? Probably, eventually. But how many children are robbed of a sure start in life before some see sense is anyone's guess.