WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
From our website
Recycling Scheme Booking ‘Bonkers’
Bonkers. This will encourage fly tipping. Also – I parked outside (perfectly legal – no lines there) and walked in with two sheets of cardboard to avoid a 20-minute queue. I was met by two aggressive employees who started filming me “no walk ins!!”. Suffice to say the cardboard wasn’t recycled….
Harry B
By all means criticise Councils if they deserve it, but I can’t see what the problem is here. Having lived in various areas where a booking system has been introduced, they worked well and reduced time-wasting queueing. I expect they also deterred people using the centres who were not entitled to [use them]. The proposed system is good provided you can book without having to wait days for a slot. As for the comment “who plans a trip?” – well who doesn’t?
Paul Smith
How would £50,000 a year be saved by a booking system? What would the set-up and maintenance of such a system cost?
If the idea is to stop commercial chancers dumping their business waste without paying their charge then there are other ways of doing this. Some councils require suitable IDs from the client – a domestic address tied to proof of identity – but rarely enforced except when the refuse looks iffy. A ban on trucks, trailers and vans also maybe. Not perfect but it does work quite well, and ordinary people don’t get hassled.
Neville Austin
‘Currently used successfully’ – presumably this means there is evidence that more waste is being appropriately disposed of as a result of a booking process. Hope it does not simply mean that the system has been introduced without reference to any other measure of its success.
Paul Franczak
Letter
Housing for Locals
Dear HIP
I was saddened to read Peter Bolwell’s letter in HIP 266. The answer to the housing issues in Hastings is not to pull up the drawbridge. Rather, we should welcome the inward investment represented by Londoners and others moving into the area.
Hastings has a wealth of Victorian housing, much of which has been poorly converted and maintained. We have many small local businesses, most of which rely on local expenditure, particularly off-season. The money those maligned Londoners and others bring with them will drive much-needed renovations and provide turnover for our shops and restaurants.
A Hastings that is hostile to such inward investment is doomed to decline and decay.
Graham Seaton
From our website
Housing Targets Row
HBC’s Green-led government is on a hiding to nothing. They want to build new homes but cannot match the old target – let alone the new one set by (Labour) Central Government. The confines and existing development of the Borough constrain any further development.
In the area of West St Leonards, we have 7 possible brownfield sites, but their suitability is questionable, at best. One is owned by the MoD, who have made no attempt to link its development to maximising housing development; three suffer the threat of landslips; one is ideal for housing development but hosts out-of-sync retail units; one involves the protected South Saxons and floods; and that brings us to the last one, the only remaining sea-adjoining land in the Borough (with considerable construction challenges) that could host leisure/tourism-focused development to improve the Borough’s poor tourist appeal.
I feel sure similar problems exist elsewhere in the Borough, so no artificial targets and financial threats are going to provide the necessary homes. What is needed is a UK-wide approach to build where it is feasible, and where the infrastructure can support the homes. I would also suggest that until developers are restricted from focusing upon luxury dwellings (suited to being second homes or attractive AirB&Bs), and instead redirected to maximising the use of sites for much-needed 1-2 bedroom dwellings, we will continue to waste opportunities!
Mr. Bryan Fisher
From our website
Reform Politician Sidelined
Forgive me for not weeping for Lucian, tolerance of the intolerant (Reform UK are definitely in the intolerant area of the spectrum, see 90% of their policies) only leads to degradation of tolerance. Not to mention, someone with views like Lucian and the party he represents should not be employed by an extension of the government.
George Prince
When he “was employed by Southeastern railway in 2021 as an agency worker” I had the displeasure of working with this man. He was horrible and sexist and reading this now and discovering he was taken on full time just makes me feel sorry for my ex-colleagues who had to put up with him for even longer. Good riddance. Surely a man of such high standing won’t struggle to find work elsewhere.
Rose Doyle
What a bizarre case. The Southern diversity and inclusion website states: “Our ambition is to create an inclusive culture where customers and colleagues feel able to be themselves and feel they belong to, and can add value to, their local communities.” Respecting different political opinions, especially when expressed out of work hours, must surely be part of this. Standing in elections really fits this brief!! It would be interesting to see the warning letter Southern wrote if there was one. ACAS guidance is generally pretty clear in my experience.
Nigel Jacklin
Letter
Azur’s Value to the Community
Dear HIP
We are co-directors and current teachers of St Leonards Studio CIC, which was originally created to provide an affordable and secure venue for complementary health and well-being care because of a lack of affordable and secure venues in the town. Our aim is to bring like-minded teachers together and encourage the growth of these arts for community benefit.
For three years David Thorpe-Tracey accommodated St Leonards Studio CIC at Azur. He supported our vision of turning an unused part of the building into our own studio.
Sea Change knew of our work, our interest and how many members of the community we were helping. Assurances that we would be put in touch with interested parties to discuss community participation via our studio have not come to fruition.
In February 2024, after the closure, we applied for the building to become an Asset of Community Value. We have not yet heard from Planning about the outcome of this application.
Sea Change chose to seal the building in the full knowledge of the leaks that were a constant blight on all activities. We dread to think of the extra costs incurred.
We are grateful to the Royal Victoria Hotel for offering us the Burton Suite as an alternative to Azur. We hope that the repair works that “remain under way” [As You Were at Azur in HIP 266] include the fixing of the leaking roof. Otherwise, this building continues to be disgracefully neglected.
Annie Cryar, Zowie Martin, Karen Simnett, Karen Hayler, Paula Conway, Lousie Carlyle, April Yasamee, Surrinder Chera, Catherine Burnett, Andrea Corso, James Loosemore, Gabrielle Lewry, Marjolyn Schreuder.
We hope you have enjoyed reading this article. The future of our volunteer led, non-profit publication would be far more secure with the aid of a small donation. You can also support local journalism by becoming a friend of HIP. It only takes a minute and we would be very grateful.
Leave a Reply