Author Archives: Hugh Sullivan
Gulzar Pleads Old Age as Defence to £1.3m Debt Claim
HUGH SULLIVAN On 12 August, Sheikh Abid Gulzar, owner of Hastings Pier, attended a High Court hearing in London to defend his company, Golden (Lions) Eastbourne Limited (‘Golden Lions’), against…
Crime Rise, or Better Reporting?
HUGH SULLIVAN A survey of police records has revealed the borough of Hastings has the highest crime rate out of 64 local authority districts in the South East of England.…
CRICKET: Team Priory Find a Higher Gear
1 August: Hastings & St Leonards Priory 231 for 8; Middleton 184 all out 8 August: Roffey 244 for 6; Priory 201 for 7 HUGH SULLIVAN Craig NowlanShawn Johnson bowling against Roffey…
Pier Owner Gulzar Faces Triple Court Reckoning
HUGH SULLIVAN Sheikh Abid Gulzar, 80-year-old owner of Hastings Pier, is set to make three court appearances, each at a different venue, over the next four months. On 12 August,…
Pride in Place Applications Invited
HUGH SULLIVAN The Hastings Neighbourhood Board (HNB), charged with allocating £20 million of government money over the next ten years to boost community amenities and activities in the town, is…
Taken for a Ride
Will Some School Children Miss Out? HUGH SULLIVAN Ever since the British Museum, backed by the national Government, persuaded authorities in France to loan the original Bayeux Tapestry for exhibition…
Tories Toppled From County Hall
Now it’s Deal or No Deal with Reform HUGH SULLIVAN Prior to the election on 7 May, the Cabinet of East Sussex County Council consisted of seven Conservative members. Their…
Permissions Sought for 471 Greenfield Homes
HUGH SULLIVAN Outline planning applications have been lodged with Rother District Council for the building of two adjacent housing estates off Ninfield Road, Bexhill. The estates are aimed to encompass…
St Mary Future Tied to Repairs to Pelham Arcade
HUGH SULLIVAN In October last year, Hastings Borough Council started what it called an Expression of Interest (EOI) process to identify a new partner, operator or consortium to take over…
FOOTBALL: The Rise and Rise of Westfield FC
HUGH SULLIVAN It’s early Saturday morning and there’s just one car parked outside the Knight & Davey Community Stadium in Westfield. Must be the groundsman – there he is, on…
CRICKET: Team Priory Back in the Groove
9 May: Hastings & St Leonards Priory 308 for 7, Cuckfield 311 for 3 16 May: Hastings & St Leonards Priory 220 all out, West Chiltington & Thakeham 169 all out HUGH SULLIVAN Craig NowlanJohn…
Homes or Community?
Council and MP Challenge Developers of Ashdown House HUGH SULLIVAN The housing estate recently built on the site of Ashdown House, the former Department of Work & Pensions office block…
CRICKET: Premier League: ‘We Want to Compete’
HUGH SULLIVAN For the fourth time in the last six years, the cricketers of Hastings and St Leonards Priory are preparing for a summer season among the ten elite teams of the…
FOOTBALL: Small Easter Comfort For United
28 March: Hastings Utd 1, VCD Athletic 0 3 April: Hassocks 2, Hastings Utd 1 6 April: Hastings Utd 1, Ashford Utd 2 HUGH SULLIVAN With just three games left…
FOOTBALL: Relegation Nerves at the Pilot Field
14 March: Hastings Utd 0, Margate 121 March: Sevenoaks Town 2, Hastings Utd 0 HUGH SULLIVAN After back-to-back wins had seemed to lift Hastings United out of relegation trouble in…
HOCKEY: International Call-up for Billy Whizz
HUGH SULLIVAN South Saxons veteran goalkeeper Richard Harvey, aged 56, will be playing for the Wales over-55s indoor hockey team at Nottingham this weekend in a tournament billed as the…
Conquest History to be Rewritten?
HUGH SULLIVAN King Harold wasn’t shot in the eye at the famous battle of 1066, he was hacked to death with lances and swords. And many researchers claim that the…
Judge Backs Leaseholders in Vive Tussle
HUGH SULLIVAN Leaseholders of the 97 residential flats at 44 Havelock Road, formerly the Vive Hotel, gained a significant victory in the High Court in London last Thursday. After two…
Not in Ore Back Yard
HUGH SULLIVAN Hastings Borough Council (HBC) has launched a consultation on its draft Local Plan – and stirred the residents of Ore into a hornets’ nest of opposition to several…
Altendorff Answers Back
‘U’s manager faces up to questions from HUGH SULLIVAN after the game against Merstham Jon SmalldonDavid Altendorff with new recruits Jedd Hobbs and Harry Haines HS: How did you rate…
Pavilion Re-Powered, Azur Branding Dropped
HUGH SULLIVAN Sea Change Sussex, leasehold owners of the former Azur Marina Pavilion, confirmed last week that a new power supply has finally been installed and connected by UK Power…
FOOTBALL: United Look to the Future
Jon Smalldon 31 January: Faversham Town 5, Hastings Utd 1 7 February: Hastings, Three Bridges Utd match postponed HUGH SULLIVAN Heavy defeat at Faversham followed by heavy rain at the…
Fare Fight?
MP, county council and campaigners clash on bus priorities HUGH SULLIVAN Photos: Jason Ellis In recent days, residents of Hastings and Rye have received a circular through their letterboxes from…
INDOOR CURLING: A Sport to Break the Ice
HUGH SULLIVAN Citius altius fortius - faster, higher, stronger – is the Olympic motto, and the blueprint for most sporting contests of our youth. But as we age, our bodies…
Landslip Concerns at Conqueror Road
Hugh Sullivan Residents of Conqueror Road in West St Leonards, which runs off Harley Shute Road, are currently opposing proposed development of a steeply sloped woodland plot at its eastern end, claiming…
HOCKEY: Saxons Enjoy Smooth Transition to Bexhill
HUGH SULLIVAN Both the men’s and women’s first teams of South Saxons Hockey Club have a new home ground this season, borrowing the recently laid pitch at Bexhill Academy for…
FOOTBALL: Altendorff Rings the Changes
8 November: Hastings 3, Beckenham Town 211 November: Eastbourne Town 3, Hastings 315 November: Herne Bay 3, Hastings 0 HUGH SULLIVAN Hastings United remain out of the bottom four of…
‘We’re still owed a seven-figure sum’
Sea Change wrangles with Council over Queensway issues HUGH SULLIVAN Relations between East Sussex County Council (ESCC) and Sea Change Sussex, their former partners in delivering the Queensway Gateway link Rd,…
Studio Flats in Former Vive Hotel Stay Barred
HUGH SULLIVAN A stand-off between insolvency administrators and leasehold owners has resulted in most of the 97 studio flats in the former Vive Hotel block at 44 Havelock Rd standing unoccupied…
FOOTBALL: Up And Running
New Boss Altendorff Takes United Out of Bottom Four 21 October: Hastings 1, Broadbridge Heath 2 25 October: Hastings 1, Deal Town 3 28 October: Hastings 1, Hassocks 1 1…
Deprivation Town Again
HUGH SULLIVAN One neighbourhood of Hastings – East Baird, centred around Malvern Way – was identified in a government survey released last week as being amongst the ten “most deprived”…
FOOTBALL: Goal-shy ‘U’s Slump to Second Bottom
11 Oct: AFC Whyteleafe 2, Hastings Utd 0 14 Oct: Hastings Utd 0, Sittingbourne 1 18 Oct: Merstham 2, Hastings Utd 0 HUGH SULLIVAN Jon SmalldonBruno Tavares - out of…
BAR BILLIARDS: Return of Charity Marathon Day
Next Monday (27 October) the Jenny Lind pub will host a charity marathon organised by the Hastings Bar Billiards league. Money will be raised for the Macmillan cancer charity and…
FOOTBALL: United Struggle Despite Hull’s Goals
27 Sept: Three Bridges 4, Hastings Utd 2 30 Sept: Sheppey Utd 0, Hastings Utd 3 4 Oct: Hastings Utd 1, Faversham Town 2 HUGH SULLIVAN Hastings United recorded their…
They Can’t Have No Education
Hastings Academy expels 11 pupils after protest “disturbance” HUGH SULLIVAN Eleven pupils at the Hastings Academy have been “permanently excluded” from the school following their involvement in a protest demonstration…
ENGULFED!
But what caused Town Centre flooding? There was a clear natural cause of the flood which engulfed Priory Meadow, South Terrace and other parts of the town centre, as well…
St Mary in the Community
Creatives call halt to disposal, seek link to castle. Under an initiative co-ordinated on behalf of Hastings Creatives group by Glenys Jacques, trustee of Barefoot Opera and long-time collaborator on…
Fire at George Street Site Due For Demolition
A major fire broke out in the Old Town on the evening of Wednesday 18 January in a building due for demolition, part of which is Grade-II listed. Saturdays burnt-out.…
Plumpton New Year: A Day at the Races
It’s been cold. It’s been windy and wet. Train services have been decimated by strikes. Covid and flu have afflicted swathes of the local population. At New Year, anyone with…
Heart Surgery Stitch-Up?
Conquest Hospital Loses Out to Eastbourne on Future Despite an outcry by Hastings Borough councillors and more muted objections from within the local medical community, the Conquest Hospital is to…