Town Deal Projects Slippage
HUGH SULLIVAN
There has been further delay in undertaking two principal development projects in Hastings funded by the government’s Town Deal.
Under the £9.75 million Public Realm and Green Connections Project, draft designs (RIBA Stage 3) were presented to the public back in June. These set out proposed changes of traffic arrangements for Havelock Road and Harold Place and the installation of ‘rain gardens’ in Robertson Street, Wellington Place and Harold Place. The Town Deal Board which oversees the project was told in July that the requisite traffic regulation order (TRO) would be advertised this autumn/winter, and that construction would commence in the spring of 2026 and be completed in 2027.
At the Board meeting last month, members were told that the designs were “90% completed” but discussions were still ongoing between East Sussex Highways and Stagecoach over bus routes, so that the TRO has yet to be prepared. Furthermore, while the design team has moved on to RIBA Stage 4 in preparation for sourcing and appointing a construction contractor, the contract will not now be awarded until spring 2026, with the main work starting “after the summer”. Several Board members raised concerns about lack of toilet provision in the town centre designs, though John Bownas, manager at Love Hastings, insisted that the newly refurbished toilets at Priory Meadow already provide adequate facilities. There also remains uncertainty about where temporary market stalls are to be relocated.
In the meantime, the timetable for implementing the £3.46 million West Hill Café and Castle Project also appears to have slipped. In July, the Town Deal Board heard that a pre-planning application had been submitted to Hastings Borough Council planning officers on 13 June and that a full application was scheduled for November. Latest designs were presented at a public consultation event held at the Observer Building in October. However, a spokesperson for the council said last week that, following “extensive pre-application engagement” between Troika Projects, the company managing the development, the planning team and Historic England, the full planning submission, including for scheduled monument consent, is now scheduled for February.
In both cases, the government requires all the funds that it is providing to be expended by March 2028, and this remains the target completion date for both.
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