Author Archives: Hugh Sullivan - Page 4
Sea change Win Planning Appeal in Bexhill
Building of up to 84,000 square feet of further business floor space at Bexhill Enterprise Park is set to proceed following a successful legal appeal by Sea change Sussex (Sea…
Opening and Closing
Boris Johnson’s ‘roadmap’ out of coronavirus restrictions reached a key landmark on Monday: the circle in the diary that promised a first professional haircut in four months and first sit-down…
FOOTBALL
Lower Leagues Take Centre Stage The East Sussex and Mid Sussex Leagues sit at the twelfth tier and beyond of the English football pyramid. But with the regional leagues above…
More Culture Recovery
Arts Council England (ACE) has announced a second round of grant awards to music, arts and theatre venues across the country from its Culture Recovery Fund. A national total of…
Zero-ing in on Covid
A campaign to “kick out Covid” launched by Hastings Community Hub, which has co-ordinated the town’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic over the past 12 months, has gained wide community…
Police Presence Cows Hokey-Cokey
On two Sunday mornings earlier this month, some scores of local protesters gathered at and around the bandstand in Alexandra Park to demonstrate their opposition to lockdown measures. They made…
Cash Splash for Rail Dash?
Hastings and Rye MP Sally-Ann Hart used two separate sessions of Parliament last week to call for national funding to upgrade the Marshlink rail line between Hastings and Ashford. Last…
Something to watch over me
Plans for a surveillance system to be set up in the streets of Central St Leonards as part of a ‘Safer Streets’ project funded by the Home Office are at…
Bulverhythe Objectors Multiply
Outright Objectors • Environment Agency• Sport England• Sussex Wildlife Trust• Sussex Ornithological Society• Crowhurst Parish Council• Friends Of Combe Valley• Bulverhythe Protectors• 90+ Individuals Commenting Serious Concerns • County Archaeologist•…
Reasons To Be Cheerful
MP Says Vaccine Take-Up Should Mean Holiday Easing Covid-19 numbers – for positive tests, for hospitalisations and for deaths – have all been reported on a sharply downward trend for…
Out of Step
St Leonards Steps, a pedestrian footpath down the cliff edge between West Hill Road and the seafront immediately to the west of St Leonards Parish Church, has been closed off.…
Tiers and Fears
Positive tests for coronavirus infections in Hastings were reported last week to have increased almost fourfold within a seven day period. In the week ending 28th November there were 63…
Brexit Countdown:
World Tunes In To Hastings Fishermen Paul Joy, articulate chairman of the Hastings Fishermen Protection Society, found himself in the eye of a media hurricane last weekend, as the Brexit…
FOOTBALL
Covid Rules Frustrate United Hastings United were back in action twice last week after five weeks of lockdown lay-off. Neither game will live long in the ; Last Tuesday, in an…
GOLF: Local Clubs Boom Despite Covid-19 Restrictions
Golf is a sport that could have been invented for social ; So, it’s no coincidence that up and down the country it has been booming in the plague year…
GOLF: The New Head Pro:
Still Aiming For Glory Paul Nessling, who was appointed last month as head professional at Sedlescombe Golf Club after arriving initially in June, has a distinguished pedigree in sporting circles…
£5m Government Funding To Combat Drugs Abuse
Hastings is set to receive £5 million funding from central government to address harms caused by the use and abuse of illicit ; The Home Office has selected the town…
From the Ashes of Ashdown
New home building set for DWP site Ashdown House, the six-storey office block between Sedlescombe Road North and Harrow Lane which has accommodated the clerical staff of the Department of…
FOOTBALL
Going So Well It was all going so well for the players, management and supporters of Hastings United. Five successive league wins sending them to the top of the Isthmian…
No Deal For St Leonards?
The Hastings Town Deal Board will meet on 16th November to discuss and approve a draft investment plan for the town to be funded by £25m of government money. Receivable…
Free food for kids
On 21st October a parliamentary motion to provide around disadvantaged children in England with £15-a-week food vouchers during school holidays until Easter 2021 was voted down by the Conservative government…
FOOTBALL
Strikers Hit Form Hastings United 3,FC Romania 0 Hastings United scored only one goal and conceded none in their first four games of the season – three 0-0 draws after…
Plans Lodged Housing on Pilot Field
Hastings United Football Club have lodged twin planning applications with the borough council to pursue their intended relocation from Pilot Field on Elphinstone Road to the Tilekiln playing fields above…
Paying The Piper
Arts Council England (ACE) has announced funding awards totalling £257 million for 1,385 venues, theatres, museums and cultural organisations across the ; The awards are administered by ACE on behalf…
A Wind Farm in Rye Bay?
The Crown Estate, which owns and manages the seabed of the UK’s coastal waters, has been engaged over the last month in determining bids for development of major new off-shore…
FOOTBALL: Denied At The Death
Ebbsfleet United 2, Hastings United 2(Ebbsfleet win 4-1 on penalties) Hastings United came within a couple of minutes of a notable FA Cup scalp last Saturday, only to concede a…
Partially Closed School Turns Viral Test Site
Hastings Academy, one of the three secondary schools serving the borough, closed its gates to most pupils for two weeks from last Wednesday after at least five of them tested…
Town Deal: Last Chance To Bid
Ideas for investment projects to be funded as part of the £25m Hastings Town Deal must be submitted by next Friday (25th September). That is the deadline for “Expressions of…
Breaking Our Word?
Last Monday (14th September) Sally-Ann Hart, MP for Hastings and Rye, voted with the Conservative majority in the House of Commons to approve the government’s Internal Market Bill, despite admission…
End of the Pier Show
Hastings Pier was set on course for a long and empty winter last week when the borough council withdrew licensing approval for several scheduled live and DJ music events. The…
TENNIS: Sussex Doubles Leagues Start – Then Stop
This winter’s Tennis Sussex (TS) men’s and women’s doubles leagues resumed at the beginning of this month as the first form of competitive tennis in the county since March. But…
Banned from the Stand
Council Alerts Police To Outlaw Planned Hastings Protest A protest meeting organised by a local Hastings group to demonstrate opposition to government restrictions imposed under coronavirus regulations was planned to…
The Two-Grand Piano No Need To Consult On Sale, Says Museum Manager
Local pianists have been surprised and disappointed to hear that Hastings Museum and Art Gallery sold off a 9-foot Estonia concert grand piano last winter for a price of around…
BAME Survey in Hastings:
“When can I be just ‘British’?” A survey undertaken in recent weeks to report the impact of Covid-19 on “the BAME community” of Hastings and St Leonards includes among its…
Active Travel: County Council Scolded For “Lack Of Ambition”
The stated aim of the Department for Transport (DfT) in its Emergency Active Travel Fund, amounting nationally to £250m, is “to enable more people to walk and to cycle”. The…
GYMS: Two Gyms Emerge from Lockdown
Under guidance issued by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport earlier in the month, indoor gyms were permitted to reopen from Saturday 25th July. Members of the SSN…
Sea Change: More of the Same
North Queensway site set for another £ splash On 8th July SELEP (the South East Local Enterprise Partnership, which channels both public and private funds into economic development in Essex,…
Industrial Exports Versus Nature Reserve
Planning Collision at Rye Harbour Churchfields is a longstanding industrial site at Rye Harbour. Prior to a fire in 2008, the site buildings were occupied by a furniture manufacturer. Enter…
FOOTBALL: United Prepare But For What?
The majority of last year’s Hastings United squad have re-signed for the 2020/21 season together with some heralded new recruits, and embarked on a series of pre-season friendly games from…
Deal Us In!
West St Leonards community groups seek share in Town Deal to fund development alternatives Since October last year, Hastings Borough Council (HBC) has been insisting that it is on the…