PAUL Barnett: opportunities for culture and sport
Cllr Paul Barnett, new leader of the Labour group on Hastings Borough Council and council leader elect, was born and educated in North London. He obtained a degree in music from York University and made an early career as a classical violinist and conductor. But needing a viable livelihood he took his interest in music and other arts into local government, working his way up to become Head of Culture first in Oldham, then on Bristol City Council.
Moving to Hastings in 2010, he has remained active on the cultural scene, chairing the Cultural Leaders Group between 2016 and 2018.
Cllr Barnett is also a keen footballer, claiming to have been selected once for the England over-40s veterans team in a match against Wales (“I don’t shout it too loudly, we got hammered”), played in the East Sussex League for Icklesham Casuals up to the age of 60, and still turns out occasionally for AFC Hollington Vets.
As holder of the re-generation portfolio on the council cabinet, he drew sharp criticism last month when justifying the council’s decision to renounce the plan of Hastings United FC to build a new football stadium and other facilities at Tilekiln on the grounds that the open space there should be retained for the benefit of the people of Hollington. Not only political opponents but many in the local sporting world pointed out that the council was in the same week pushing through its own planning application to enable the sale of Harrow Lane playing fields for housing development.
Cllr Barnett is unapologetic: “Sport matters a lot to me”, he insists, “and we need to invest seriously in it”. He believes that Chris Whitty’s report published last summer on the health problems of seaside towns gives Hastings a real opportunity to bid for Levelling Up funds from central government which could provide major investment in the renewal of facilities at Pilot Field, at Horntye and at Summerfields. “The council already supports the excellent community sporting programme run by Active Hastings”, he says. “With sufficient injection of capital funding into these and other venues we can transform the sports scene in Hastings”.
On the arts front, he welcomes the recent transfer of the Hastings Contemporary gallery into council ownership, and thinks that there are similar opportunities for new funding to be applied to other existing cultural premises, in particular the White Rock Theatre and St-Mary-in-the-Castle.
Adam Daly, managing director of the company that runs the Fat Tuesday festival and co-owner of the Albion pub, praises Cllr Barnett’s support for the music scene in the town. “He has always been a big fan of Fat Tuesday”, he says. “And with such a strong arts and music background, we hope that Paul will help the council go further in their advocacy of the cultural organisations in the area, on both a local and national level, in order to bring further funding, support and awareness to this sector.”
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