Author Archives: Hugh Sullivan - Page 6
Park Life In The 21st Century
The 100 or so chalet owners of High Beech Chalet Park are individual freeholders, as per the history of the site set out above. The collective services which the site…
BOWLS: Rub Of The Greens?
Council Budget Cuts Threaten Club Wipe-Out Proposed cuts in the Hastings Borough Council (HBC) 2020/21 budget will affect many areas of town life from shortening of museum opening hours to…
FOOTBALL: Pilot Blight
Record Crowd Sees Comprehensive Home Defeat Hastings United 0, Ashford United 3 The biggest crowd for a league game at Pilot Field for many a season, numbered at 1,189, watched…
Observer Fervour
OB plans to be launched at public forum this month White Rock Neighbourhood Ventures Limited (WRNV), the local development company which completed its purchase of the derelict Observer Building on…
High Beech: From Holiday Park To Full-Year Estate
The Cambridge English Dictionary defines a chalet as “a small wooden house found in mountain areas, especially in Switzerland, or a house built in a similar style, especially one used…
Solar Farms – Half a Step Forward, Two Back
In January last year the cabinet of Hastings Borough Council (HBC) approved a motion to proceed in principle with proposals to install solar energy farms at one or more of…
KICKBOXING
Dancing With Attitude Dancing is a natural human instinct. So is fighting. Turn up any weekday evening at the Fighters Loft on Harrow Lane – a pair of gym rooms…
Peter’s Out
Labour Tributes, Tory Jibes After Council Leader Quits Peter Chowney has announced that he will be stepping down as leader of the Hastings Labour party and as Borough Council leader…
The Man Who Would Be Robert Tressell
Cllr Peter Chowney’s leadership tenure has lasted for nearly five years, arising from the sudden death of previous incumbent Jeremy Birch on the eve of the general election of May…
Labour Party Leadership Part 2: Local Members Vote
While Labour party councillors are deciding which of their number is to take up leadership of Hastings Borough Council, ordinary members of Hastings & Rye constituency party (CLP) will have…
Who’s In Charge?
Arrival Of Electric Car Vehicles Lags In Hastings In the third quarter of 2015 there were just over 50,000 vehicles registered in the UK with ‘ultra-low emissions’ (ULEVs), ranging from…
2019: The Year In Team Sport
Plans for re-siting the town’s foremost sports teams remain clouded in doubt at the end of this year. Pilot Field and Horntye Park are both still scheduled for housing development,…
Jews And Anti-Semites In Hastings The Peculiar World Of Dany Louise
In February this year Old Town ward councillor Dany Louise resigned from the Hastings Labour party citing failure of its national leadership to deal with anti-semitism within its ranks. In…
GE2019: Question Time
Many weeks of national as well as local focus on voters in the marginal constituency of Hastings & Rye (Conservative majority 346 in 2017) should come to a head next…
Ore Valley: HoH Bid Rejected
Regeneration company Sea Space announced on 13th November the winner of its competitive tender process for development of a housing scheme on the disused power station site in Ore Valley:…
FOOTBALL: Cup Defeats For Hastings But Credit Where It’s Due
Hastings United 2, Brighton Under-23s 3 (Sussex Senior Cup) Weymouth 1, Hastings United 0 (FA Trophy) Hastings United have suffered two cup exits in the past week. But on each…
Model Take-over?
At the end of last month, following a public meeting, Rye Town Council resolved to close the town’s Heritage Centre on Strand Quay including the Town Model housed there. The…
TENNIS: Amherst Ladies On The Rise
Amherst 2, Crowborough 2 (Wilson Sandford Winter Doubles - Ladies League 2) There is a friendly but deep-seated rivalry in Hastings tennis between its two private clubs: The Green, whose…
THEATRE REVIEW: The Wedding Singer
Bexhill Rocks A wedding scene is the traditional finale to comedy theatre from Shakespeare to Gavin and ; All the cast can be gathered – two main protagonists as happy…
Ore Library Re-opening, Community Centre Retained
The community group Big Local North East Hastings (BLNEH), a partnership of residents which dispenses national lottery funds, last week announced a grant of £6,000 to Ore Community Library Group…
FOOTBALL: Elphick Injured, Hastings Cornered
Hastings United 2, Whitehawk 2 Playing in drenching rain for the second successive Saturday at Pilot Field, Hastings United fought out an entertaining FA Trophy tie with visitors Whitehawk, which…
Tight Schedule For Potential £25m Towns Fund Boost
Hastings is one of just three towns in Kent and East Sussex – the others are Margate and Newhaven – that have been selected to bid for up to £25m…
HIP REVIEW: Identifying As Migrants
An open forum discussion at A Wave of Dreams Arts Lab in Kings Road, St Leonards on 30th October entitled Tolerance, Migration, Identity featured three panellists with truly global experience…
West Marina Awaits Its Fate
But councillor calls for “ideas and creativity” Hastings Borough Council (HBC) is about to complete the grant of a long lease of the former bathing pool site at West Marina…
Bexhill Road: 190 New Homes On A Flood Plain
Hastings Borough Council (HBC) announced last week that Homes England has confirmed its grant of up to £ to develop the first tier of open space at Bulverhythe behind Bexhill…
Clearing The Electoral Field
Fight For Amber Rudd’s Seat Reduced To Three-Way Contest The local Green Party issued a statement last Sunday that it has decided not to field a general election candidate in…
TENNIS: Death Of A Chairman
Trevor Le BreuillyBorn 1949, died 3rd October 2019, RIP PICTURE: Glenn Butt Most sport in Hastings, like so much else of value in our town, depends on the work and…
FOOTBALL: A Re-Balance – United At The Top
In HIP 137, a fortnight ago, I reported on the boardroom comings and goings at Pilot Field, as new Hastings United CEO Billy Wood arrived and three long-serving club directors…
Hotel Or Housing?
Council Cabinet To Debate Town Centre Car Park Development The cabinet of Hastings Borough Council will debate next Monday (7th October) a proposal to develop the Cornwallis Street car park…
FOOTBALL: Pilot Episode Boardroom Ins And Outs
Hastings United footballers had last weekend off, or at least no league or cup game to play. The action instead was in the boardroom at Pilot Field as three long-serving…
New Special School Set For Former Helenswood Site
A new ‘free’ special school, known as The Flagship School, is being planned for the former Helenswood Upper site on the Ridge. On 20th September East Sussex County Council (ESCC)…
Doc Of The Bay
The Smuggler pub at Pett Level, which has been shut for the past two years, will not re-open. Following a successful planning application for change of use, made by Hastings…
Historic High Streets: Another Regeneration Fund For Hastings Town Centre
With considerable media fanfare the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) announced last Saturday that a £95m regeneration fund is being released to “revitalise” historic high streets in…
Dealing With No Deal
On 15th November last year the Audit Committee of Hastings Borough Council (HBC) received and approved a report from Simon Hubbard, Director of Operational Services, entitled “Risk Assessment of the No-Deal…
Fall Out
Amber Rudd’s Departure Leaves Electoral Gap For All Parties The decision of Amber Rudd, former Work and Pensions Secretary, to abandon both her ministerial position and her party allegiance has…
Regime Change at Rother: The First Hundred Days
Doug Oliver has enjoyed his first hundred days as leader of Rother District Council. The previous Conservative administration, ousted in elections across the board in May, had been, in his…
Ore Valley: Heart of Hastings Confirms Bid Intention
Prospects for residential development of the freehold site of the former power station in Ore Valley seem to be moving forward. At the end of July, the site was put…
Thank You and Goodnight –Isabel Blackman Centre in St Leonards To Stay Shut
The Royal Voluntary Service (RVS) has told its staff and volunteers that the Isabel Blackman Centre in South Street, St Leonards, bequeathed to the community in 1966 and operating up…
FOOTBALL: Season’s Greetings – But Are We Ready?
Cray Valley PM 0, Hastings United 0 Last season Hastings United started their campaign with what looked like a settled squad, a manager exuding confidence of league promotion come April,…
CRICKET: Priory Set For Divisional Title
Lindfield 176 ( overs)Hastings & St Leonards Priory 178 for 7 ( overs) Hastings & St Leonards Priory enjoyed a day of success on a number of fronts last Saturday.…