The Hastings Pride in Place Board has appointed eight new community members to oversee how £21.5m of government funding for the town’s regeneration programme will be spent. Backed by long-term government investment, the initiative places community involvement at its heart, channelling funding into improvements across education, health, employment, and other vital local services.

The new community board members are: Tony Davis; Darryl Telles; Frenchie (Alex Justin-French); Holly Paramor; Isaac Solomon; Lewis Daden; Malaika Scotney and Yasmin Ornsby. 

Kevin Boorman, the Chair of the Hastings Pride in Place Board, said the call for community board members earlier this year had attracted more than 120 applicants and the eight successful candidates were selected after a rigorous recruitment process.

He said: “Throughout this programme, we have been committed to ensuring that local people are at the heart of decision-making. These appointments represent an important step in that journey and will help ensure that the voices of Hastings residents continue to shape how this investment is delivered in our town.”

The appointment of the new community board members is designed to strengthen the community-led approach at the heart of the Pride in Place initiative. They will work alongside existing board members, including local MP Helena Dollimore and Julia Hilton, the Deputy Leader of Hastings Borough Council, and partners to help oversee the delivery of projects, ensuring residents have a direct say in how the additional £21.5m of government funding is spent over the next decade.

The appointees bring a wealth of lived experience and professional expertise directly to the decision-making table and exemplify the community-first ethos that sits at the heart of the Pride in Place programme. They include: 

Tony Davis, a retired Ministry of Justice civil servant, lives in the Alexandra Park area and believes Hastings has enormous potential to be unlocked. He says: “We need to create something lasting, especially for the young people of the town.”

Malaika Scotney works as a Senior Mental Health Practitioner providing mental health and wellbeing support to children aged seven to 17 within Hastings and East Rother schools. She has joined the board as a community member wanting to represent children, young people, families and visitors as people who deserve permanent spaces and experiences that reflect the town’s independence, uniqueness and potential.

Lewis Daden was born and raised in Hastings and grew up in the Clive Vale area and went to primary and secondary school in Ore. He owns Fatboy’s Barbershop on the High Street in the Old Town where he provides specialised services for children with SEN. As a local, as a parent and as a business owner he says he has a good insight as to what people want to see improved in the town.

PAUL McLAUGHLIN

Swimmers and paddleboarders in Hastings have voiced growing concern over the proliferation of jet skis and paragliders along the shoreline during the recent heatwave. There have been several reports of dangerous encounters with jet skis, which have been spotted speeding recklessly close to crowded beaches. Adding to the unease, there are complaints about the intrusive noise and the acrid stench of engine oil, which becomes especially pungent on hotter days.

The danger for swimmers is heightened further by the increased numbers of paragliders. The airborne acrobatics can look spectacular but can also pose a grave threat to public safety. With volatile offshore winds frequently whipping up sudden, unpredictable gusts, pilots can easily lose control of their canopies and endanger unaware swimmers below as they hurtle into the sea.

Hastings Borough Council has advised that there are no specific byelaws banning the use of jet skis along the beaches. A spokesperson for HBC said that “while there is no prohibition on the crafts themselves, launches are restricted to existing authorised sites, such as the East Hastings Sea Angling Association and the Hastings and St Leonards Angling Association, which require user membership.”

Despite the launch restrictions, reports of ‘show-boating’ and high-speed stunts close to the shore have surged during the recent hot spell.

Edwina Hughes, a year-round swimmer at St Leonards Beach, said “the prospect of jet skis zooming up and down from the pier can feel intimidating, as swimmers sit far lower in the water than the skiers – raising the worry that they might not see us.”

HBC confirmed that “jet skis are subject to maritime law and that anyone witnessing the reckless operation of a watercraft particularly where life is at risk should call 999 and ask for the coastguard or police.”

Hastings Creative College (HCC) will take over the second floor of the old Debenham’s building from September. The college, formerly DV8 Sussex, Bexhill, provides vocational qualifications at Levels 2 (GCSE equivalent) and 3 (A Level equivalent) in Games Development, Music Production and Performance, and Film, Photography and Creative Media to post-16 students.

HCC has always seen itself as an antidote to bigger and more orthodox further education colleges, with less formality, smaller class sizes and a more supportive, personalised approach. Company CEO Stephen Jeffery explains the impact he expects the new college to have on the local community:

“We think with HCC in the centre of town, we can open up the area to grass roots creativity, e.g. music, art, gaming, as well as accredited and non-accredited education programmes. This we hope will encourage more engagement with local businesses and residents. We are keen to open our facilities for community use, and this is something we will be taking soundings on … with key stakeholders.”

The origins of the new college go back more than twenty years to a youth project in Shoreditch, where disaffected local youngsters were taught to DJ, mix and produce music in drum and bass clubs. The youth project moved to Brighton in 2002 and acquired formal status as an education provider under contract to the DfE in 2013, when English and Maths also became part of its curriculum.

After opening a second site in Bexhill in 2017, DV8 was taken over by the London Learning Consortium in 2020 and was rated as ‘Good’ by Ofsted in 2023. Student numbers have grown rapidly in response to the popularity and success of the organisation with GCSE results in English and Maths exceeding the national average over several years.

Lecturers are grounded in experience from their relevant industries, so work experience and connection with employers has prepared many students for a successful transition into suitable and fulfilling work.

Stephen Jeffery still heads the London Learning Consortium parent company and believes they have “significant experience of delivering adult education programmes and see this as another aspect of the services we could offer in the town. As in many coastal towns, employment is difficult and insecure for many people, but perhaps even more so for young people. There are several new qualifications and ‘routes’ being implemented over the next few years and we are planning to use these as opportunities to expand our provision. I am really excited about the new technical pathways being proposed by the DfE, and in tandem with increased devolution we are looking forward to widening our provision and services to both residents and employers.”

Although HCC will be on site in September, it will not be open as a college until the new year, and it is hoped the transfer from DV8, Bexhill will be complete by next Easter. Stephen Jeffery explains the plan is to complement rather than compete with the existing colleges in the town adding “HCC focus(es) where mainstream education has been less successful, with students that need more time, more support, a different regime of learning and thrive less well in larger educational institutions.

We also act as a conduit into accreditation and further education for young people who have been electively home educated. As an inclusive college, we welcome learners who have experienced barriers in their learning journey, whether that is additional learning or social needs, mental health concerns or involvement in offending; all applicants are considered on a case-by-case basis, often in consultation with parents/carers and other services. 

Many young people need a different place to learn and a space where they are allowed to be different and show their talents and ambitions. We therefore have a ‘niche’ and sit within the FE ecosystem in a small but vital area.”

It is quite a story from humble beginnings to three thriving sites in Croydon, Brighton and now Hastings. The arrival of Hastings Creative College is a welcome boost for the town centre and for local creatives of all ages in the community who will be able to use its facilities and services.

A white sloop met a rocky end on the shoreline of St Leonards beach in the early hours of Wednesday (5 August), despite a frantic rescue effort launched the night before.

HM Coastguard teams from Hastings and Bexhill were scrambled on Tuesday evening after a flurry of 999 calls reported the vessel listing dangerously close to the shore. The Pett Level Independent Rescue Team were also called to help with the emergency.

When the Bexhill crew arrived, they found the yacht had already run aground. Welfare and registration checks were carried out, and the sole occupant, miraculously unharmed, was left aboard to pin his hopes on the rising tide in a bid to re-float the stricken craft.

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, however, the vessel began taking on water. When Coastguard crews returned to the scene, the skipper had already abandoned the sloop and swam safely ashore. There are unfortunately few specific timestamps of the incident’s progress, besides a callout to RNLI Eastbourne for assistance that occurred at 05:43 on that Wednesday morning.

Hastings Borough Council (HBC) confirmed the vessel washed ashore at St Leonards’ Grand Parade. Nearby landmarks include Warrior Square and gardens, alongside the aptly named Goat Ledge – the stretch of rocks along the shore that emerge at low tide, said to have earned its name centuries ago from goats grazing on the exposed seaweed. The sloop is believed to have come to grief on these very rocks.

Local beach-goers and eyewitnesses reported seeing the sloop sailing unusually close to the shoreline in the days preceding it running aground. Regular swimmers at Goat Ledge, accustomed to watching sailing boats and the occasional cargo vessel drift far out on the horizon, said the sightings sparked mild concern. While skippers must comply with the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGs), the Merchant Shipping Act and local coastal bylaws, UK law does not currently stipulate a fixed minimum distance from the shore for vessels not entering port.

HBC has confirmed it is working with partners and contractors to oversee the cleanup. Parts of the vessel still remain on the beach and will be removed by Monday 10 August.

This unfortunate incident raises questions about navigation practices around St Leonards. The Goat Ledge rocks can be treacherous even for experienced sailors. Whether the wreck will prompt calls for tighter regulation or greater caution remains unclear. 

Hastings Borough Council invites residents, families, and local groups to participate in the Norman Heritage Banner Competition, which seeks creative designs inspired by the town’s unique Norman history, landmarks, and stories.

The winning banner designs will be professionally printed and displayed along a curated trail weaving from Hastings Railway Station to Hastings Castle, via the Town Hall, seafront, and West Hill Lift. Organisers say the vibrant installations will bring the area’s rich Norman heritage to life while delivering an unforgettable experience for visitors.

Visitors will be able to scan QR codes to discover local history, stories and information connected to each banner design. A free printed trail map will also be available to help people follow the route and explore the town.

Designs must be created using the official banner template hastings. Download here gov.uk/content/heritage-trail/Hastings_Banner_outline_template.pdf

The Environment Agency (EA) has published its first comprehensive assessment of England’s rivers, lakes and coastal waters in six years. The findings reveal that only 15% of the country’s waterways are classified as being in good ecological health, while not a single river or lake passed the regulator’s separate test for chemical pollution.

The damning national picture is reflected here in Hastings. In recent years the town has suffered repeated sewage spills, flooding and major water outages due to the failings of Southern Water. Yet, despite its abysmal record, water bills have continued to rise, and public confidence in the privatised company has plummeted.

With every fresh calamity, Southern Water steps up its public relations campaign to convince people it is turning things around. This week residents received a leaflet inviting them to “dive in” and “enjoy with confidence” the “improving bathing water quality” in Hastings and St Leonards. The leaflet is likely to have caused many of them to raise an eyebrow. As HIP reported in our last issue, frustration at Southern Water’s performance has sparked a campaign by residents to withhold part of their water bill in protest.

The Environment Secretary, Angela Eagle, acknowledged that the EA figures “underline the need for wholesale change across the water sector,” yet she stopped short of advocating for a return to public ownership of the privatised water companies. While there is broad consensus that privatisation has been an unmitigated disaster, there is no agreement on how best to reform the sector.

The renationalisation of the water companies remains popular with the public and is supported by the Green Party. They argue that the privatised firms are so heavily indebted, that the initial cost of purchasing them from shareholders would be minimal. Critics, however, point out that while the takeover price might be low, the government would still inherit billions of pounds of private debt, raising serious questions about how that financial burden would ultimately be managed.

Local Labour MP Helena Dollimore has backed an alternative plan she has co-developed with the Good Growth Foundation (GGF), a progressive think-tank focused on economic growth and reform. Their plan calls for the restructuring of water companies into customer-owned, not-for-profit co-operatives.

She wrote the foreword to the GGF report: A Watertight Solution for Public Control, and the research was based on the water issues she has had to deal with in Hastings and Rye since her election in 2024. These include the repeated dumping of raw sewage along the coastline, the flooding of Hastings town centre on two separate occasions, water shortages that left taps dry twice in less than a year and the release of 300 million plastic beads that washed up on local beaches.

Under the GGF proposals, shareholders and creditors of heavily indebted water companies on the verge of collapse would be required to absorb losses before receiving any government assistance in a potential rescue deal. Any company rescued in this way would then be restructured as a customer-owned, not-for-profit co-operative, rather than sold to the highest bidder – as happened when the banks were bailed out in 2008.

Less indebted water companies would also face tougher regulation, including enhanced monitoring, tighter restrictions on executive pay and a ban on dividends unless they meet strict financial, environmental and customer service performance targets. Any company that failed to do so would be forced into the co-operative model, with ownership shifting from shareholders to customers, and democratic board representation giving bill-payers a direct say in how their water is run.

The GGF argues that this “mutualisation” model offers a route to public control that avoids the crippling costs of full renationalisation, commands broad public support and does so without burdening taxpayers. It also has the backing of environmental groups such as Surfers Against Sewage, the Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin, and the General Secretary of the Co-operative Party, Joe Fortune.

Whether the future lies in full state ownership through renationalisation, a gradual migration to customer-owned cooperatives or some hybrid model, one thing is clear: the status quo is no longer tenable. The environmental clean-up of waterways will take decades, the financial burden on bill-payers has become unsustainable and public trust has all but evaporated. The question is not whether reform must come, but which form it will take, and how quickly the political will can be mustered to deliver it.

East Sussex County Council (ESCC) has published a pioneering Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) designed to reverse biodiversity decline across East Sussex, and Brighton & Hove. As the appointed Responsible Authority, ESCC will lead its delivery as part of wider regional conservation efforts.

The strategy has been shaped by input from more than 2,000 local residents. It sets out eight principles, 24 priorities and over 100 practical actions to create, enhance and connect habitats. The plan targets areas where interventions would deliver the greatest benefits for both wildlife and communities.

The key measures include enhancing vulnerable sand dune habitats like Camber Sands, which are considered irreplaceable and among Europe’s most at-risk environments. The strategy also addresses the critical decline of water voles, which have suffered over 90% population loss in East Sussex over the past 30 years through bankside management and wetland creation.

Cllr Julia Hilton, Green Party Group Leader at ESCC and Deputy Leader of Hastings Borough Council (HBC), said she “definitely supports” the ambition behind the LNRS. HBC, she noted, contributed to its development alongside many other organisations and individuals.

However, she was critical of the government’s approach, pointing out that “the instruction to create one came with no funding to actually implement any changes” and that the strategy provides no formal protection of land from development. While she acknowledged it was a useful indicator for identifying areas where Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) credits could be used to improve biodiversity, she added that this mechanism has also been watered down by the current government, with smaller sites now exempt from the BNG requirement.

Looking ahead, she suggested that responsibility for implementing the LNRS is likely to move to the strategic authority following local government reorganisation, and that it was possible the new unitary authority for East Sussex would then allocate some funding.

In Hastings, Cllr Hilton said that HBC has committed to improving the biodiversity of at least 30% of council owned land and are actively exploring setting up a habitat bank so that nature in Hastings can benefit from any offsite BNG that needs to be generated from any development; this would mean that “we and the future unitary council can benefit from the income to help maintain our green spaces.”

The strategy is one of 48 being implemented across England and is available at: SussexNatureRecovery.org.uk.

PAUL McLAUGHLIN

The skipper of the stricken sloop, Maranatha, which ran aground off the Sussex coast, is locally born sailor, Justyn. After becoming homeless in Hastings two years ago, he has lived continuously aboard boats. An experienced mariner, Justyn knows the perils of navigating the English Channel, particularly along the Sussex coast.

Recounting the incident, Justyn explained that he had dropped anchor roughly 500 metres from the Goat Ledge restaurant and secured his mooring when the wind suddenly changed direction. He now regrets his decision to re-anchor. The windlass mechanism, which is used to safely raise, lower, and secure the anchor and chain failed, forcing him to manually crank the gear by hand. Despite his efforts, the sloop began to drift, and in desperation, he called HM Coastguard.

The coastguard responded promptly. Justyn initially refused to abandon ship, believing he could rescue her at high tide. However, in the early hours of Wednesday (5 August), the sloop began taking on water, and he was forced to bail out. Coastguard members bravely waded out to the vessel to ensure it posed no danger to other craft or to beachgoers.

The wreck has left Justyn homeless once more. He now sleeps on benches along the Grand Parade’s lower promenade, though he managed to salvage some of his possessions – and even the vessel’s engine – by rowing them ashore in his dinghy, no small feat given its size.

Justyn is philosophical about the loss, having weathered far greater traumas in his life. He is determined to return to sea, where he feels most at home. He plans to rest for a few days before sailing his dinghy to Rye for some recuperation along the Military Canal. 

Friends have launched a GoFundMe campaign to help Justyn get back on his feet: gofundme.com/f/needing-a-new-home-due-to-weather

Two local pensioners, Nina Heaton from Hastings and Mary Law from Rother were arrested outside Westminster Magistrates Court on Thursday (30 July), under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act, for publicly saying the words: “I support Palestine Action and I encourage everyone to do the same. Saving lives is not terrorism.” If charged and convicted, they may face fourteen-years in prison.

Palestine Action was set up as a nonviolent protest group that campaigned against UK arms sales to Israel. MPs voted to proscribe it under the Terrorism Act at the beginning of July 2025, a decision that made it a criminal offence to express support for the group, to wear clothing that might suggest support, or to publish images of its logo. 

The ban received overwhelming support from MPs, including the votes of Hastings and Rye MP Helena Dollimore and Bexhill and Battle MP Kieran Mullan. Since then, thousands of people have been arrested for peacefully defying it. 

Ms Heaton and Ms Law were among 152 people arrested at the protest outside Westminster Magistrates Court on 30 July. According to Defend Our Juries, which organised the demonstration, more than 1,500 people had received letters informing them that hearings related to their previous prosecutions would take place at the court that same day. However, rather than being allowed into their listed hearings, the group says: “152 people were arrested outside – some for speaking to the crowd, some for helping put up a small platform for speakers, and some, they say, simply for clapping.”   

The arrests took place on the same day that Huda Ammori, a co-founder of Palestine Action, won permission to challenge the ban in the UK Supreme Court. The case is set to be heard in the final quarter of this year and means the more than 3,500 people arrested since the ban was introduced will remain in legal limbo until the legality of the law is definitively resolved.

Nina Heaton says: “The UK government is desperate to silence any who dare to expose the UK’s complicity and active participation in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. It is desperate to conceal its highly lucrative arms trade with multiple Israeli weapons factories here in the UK. It is desperate to hide the truth from the British public. Sabotaging Israel’s machinery of death, weapons that maim, mutilate and murder is not terrorism. Decent people, people with a conscience will carry on protesting because we are right. Genocide is wrong.” 

Tom Southerden, Amnesty International UK’s Law and Human Rights Director, says: “We have long said that the banning of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation was a grave misuse of sweeping counter-terrorism powers, with serious consequences for human rights. It is a shameful attack on our freedom of speech that those arrested today, for instance, could face very long prison sentences simply for peacefully opposing the government over the ban. We welcome the decision of the Supreme Court to grant permission to appeal, but the Government should end this sorry saga now by withdrawing the proscription.”   

Reform UK has withdrawn its threat to report Barry Ashley, the owner of the Grumpy Cook café in Robertson Street, to the police, along with local Labour MP Helena Dollimore. The party, which now controls East Sussex County Council (ESCC), had accused them of “inciting hatred and potential violence” against Council Leader Andy Woolley, following the Council’s decision to scrap summer holiday food vouchers for children.

Helena Dollimore had described the Council’s decision as “disgraceful” while Barry Ashley promised to “provide free lunches to those who need them most to ensure that no child goes hungry during the school holidays.”

Local anger over the council decision was picked up by the national media, sparking sharp criticism nationwide. In response, Cllr Woolley addressed the hostility directed at him and his family in an email to Ms Dollimore and Mr Ashley. He pointed out that it was a collective decision by the ESCC Cabinet to stop issuing the vouchers and claimed “Your continued naming of me personally has led to an increase in online abuse of me personally and has now reached a point where you could be responsible for inciting hate and potential violence against me, a political official, and members of my family. You of all people should be aware of the increased sensitivity of these sorts of posts since the sad murder of Ann Widdecombe. As such, I shall be reporting you both to the police and to the Parliamentary Standards Committee.”

Mr Ashley said he was taken aback by the Council Leader’s response to his Help Feed a Child This Summer initiative. He has been providing kids with free meals each day to ensure that no child goes hungry during the school holidays and said he never expected this would end in threats of police action.

Initial disbelief over Cllr Woolley’s threatening emails quickly gave way to ridicule across social media, as the Council Leader, an advocate for free speech, was mocked for seemingly opposing it.

Following the backlash, a spokesperson for Reform UK issued a statement clarifying that Cllr Woolley was not pursuing a personal complaint against either Mr Ashley or Ms Dollimore. Instead, “was seeking advice through Sussex Police’s procedure for supporting elected members who receive threats and abuse.” The spokesperson went on to say: “No one should face a police report for simply criticising a decision the council has made.”

The spokesperson concluded by saying Cllr Woolley and his family had received a “large amount of highly abusive and threatening messages from other people across the country, well beyond Sussex. The decision to end the vouchers was taken collectively and has been personalised in a way that a collective decision should not be. Andy has always been clear that he does not hold Mr Ashley or Ms Dollimore responsible for the abuse itself, which has come from others.”

Ms Dollimore welcomed “the clarification”. She said “politicians and members of the public should be free to comment on and criticise decisions made by their opponents. I know that Reform UK includes ‘defence of free speech’ as amongst its policies.”

Mr Ashley said he would continue to provide free meals to struggling families.

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, the company Golden (Lions) Eastbourne Limited, of which he is sole director and shareholder, faces a winding-up petition in London’s High Court brought by British Gas Trading Limited. The company owns Eastbourne Pier.

On 2 September Gulzar faces an individual trial in Brighton Magistrates Court on a charge, which he denies, of possession of a knife blade or sharp pointed article in a public place. The case was first listed for trial by Hastings Magistrates in April but ordered to be transferred to Brighton. It is understood to relate to an incident in Eastbourne in May last year.

On dates as yet unspecified in November, Gulzar faces a further three-week trial in Lewes Crown Court along with a co-defendant, business associate Manasdeep Singh, on ten charges of alleged fraud under a private prosecution brought by water supplier Castle Water Limited. The charges relate to the claimed provision of £150,000 worth of water to a number of hotels owned by Gulzar’s companies. He and Singh stand accused of fraud in their avoidance of payment. Both have pleaded not guilty.

At a prior hearing of this prosecution at Hove in March, Gulzar was required to put up security for his potential liability. The court directed that this security should include his major private asset, the freehold of Hastings Pier. Thus, although he has stated publicly that he is looking for a buyer for this pier, any prospective sale would be frozen until after the November trial unless the court allowed a sale to proceed with the proceeds held in lieu.

PREVIOUS COMPANY DEFAULTS

Ten out of 12 companies which Gulzar has owned and directed as sole shareholder over the past 11 years have either been liquidated or dissolved – many owing substantial sums either in tax or to trade creditors (or both).

Lions Hotels Limited and Chatsworth Hotels Limited were both liquidated in 2017 with combined debts to the Inland Revenue of nearly £300,000 and over £150,000 to trade creditors.

In September 2023 Lions Hastings Pier Ltd, which managed operations on Hastings Pier but did not own the freehold or any other major assets, was wound up with a deficiency in excess of £300,000, much of it owed to former employees Peter Wheeler and Daisy Hill. The company liquidator Laura Walshe made what she described as a “confidential report” to the Insolvency Service on Gulzar’s conduct as former director, indicating “matters which did merit further review relating to dealings between the company and an associated entity”. She noted that concerns in relation to other companies operated by him were “beyond the scope of my duties”.

No disqualification proceedings nor other attempts to control the conduct of his companies have ever been brought against Gulzar, despite an on-going series of insolvencies.

In 2024 two other former hotel companies, Albany Lions Hotel Limited and Mansion Lions Hotel Limited, were dissolved, the former after a winding up petition was issued by HM Revenue & Customs. No accounts had been filed in respect of either since 2019, so any financial deficiencies have not seen the light of day.

In May this year, two other companies: Lions Pier Limited, believed to be the operating company for Eastbourne Pier, and Golden AMB Limited, previously the operating company for the Mansions Lions Hotel, were wound up on petitions brought by Eastbourne Borough Council. Two months before, both companies had filed respective accounts made up to March 2025. Lions Pier showed assets (at cost) of £570,000 but creditors of over £1.3 million, including trade creditors of £930,000 and tax outstanding of £91,000; Golden AMB showed assets (at cost) of £630,000 with creditors of £2.48 million, including £1.13 million trade creditors and tax/social security outstanding of £91,000. No statement of affairs as at the date of liquidation has yet been drawn in either case.

WHAT’S LEFT

The extent of Gulzar’s private wealth is unknown, but he owns Hastings Pier, the Boship Lions Farm Hotel outside Hailsham (closed after losing a government contract to house asylum seekers, and apparently now up for sale) and the former Mansions Lions Hotel, which has been on the market for many years (current ‘guide price’ with Sussex Commercial is £2.8 million). But his corporate empire has been reduced to just two companies: Golden (Lions) Eastbourne Limited, which faces winding up in a fortnight’s time, and Boship Lions Farm Hotel Limited.

The Boship Lions company hasn’t filed accounts since 2019. It is believed to have been used as the operating company to manage the Boship Lions Farm Hotel, and at that stage had no significant assets.

The Golden Lions company, however, filed accounts in March this year made up to March 2025 showing an asset value of £6 million – presumably for the freehold of Eastbourne Pier, since no other property is known to be held by the company. This figure is not related to cost but noted on the face of the accounts as a “fair value”. (By way of comparison, Gulzar stated recently that his asking price for Hastings Pier is £4 million).

It seems unlikely that Gulzar will allow Golden Lions to be wound up on 12 August, and much more probable that he can and will in due course raise the finance to pay whatever is owed to British Gas Trading. His past form includes several instances in which claims against him and/or his companies for unpaid tax and national insurance contributions have had to be pursued through the courts by Revenue & Customs authorities and/or appealed but have eventually been settled.

The outcome of the respective criminal prosecutions against him, on the other hand, is not one that can be commented upon in advance.

Sheikh Abid Gulzar has been asked by HIP for comments on the winding up proceedings in respect of his company Golden (Lions) Eastbourne Ltd but had not responded at the time of going to press.

National Emergency Briefing

A group of local and community activists have come together to organise a viewing of the National Emergency Briefing film to highlight the need for the town to address the urgent threats posed by climate change, biodiversity loss and nature depletion. 

The film has been shown in over 2,000 locations across the country and details the problems the UK will face in the future resulting from nature depletion, water and food shortages, floods and fires.

The event is being organised by Jessica Townsend (formerly of MP Watch), Rebecca Sinker (Campaign for Water Action Group CWAG), and Jane Ripley (Standing up 4 Nature), alongside other local volunteers. Their aim is to “foster a non-partisan conversation about what Hastings and St Leonards can do to become sustainable, supportive, just and resilient in the face of unavoidable environmental change.”

The Hastings People’s Emergency Briefing takes place at The Observer Building, Hastings, on 1st August 2026, 2.30-6.00pm. There are two other free screenings organised by the Quakers at the Electric Palace on the 27 and 29 August. All are welcome.

Train Travel Chaos

Passengers travelling from Hastings into London Waterloo East and Charing Cross are set to face 22 days of disruption as work gets under way on a £20 million engineering project which will see both stations completely closed from 26 July through to 16 August.

Southeastern trains starting from Hastings will terminate at London Bridge and alternative London stations, and timetables will be significantly altered with journey times expected to lengthen considerably.

The disruption does not end on 16 August. Network Rail has scheduled two additional weekends of follow-up works to complete the project. These will take place on 22–23 August and 10–11 October, meaning passengers should brace for further reduced services and altered routes on those dates as well.

Southeastern Railway has advised all customers to plan ahead meticulously and to check revised service schedules.

The simmering tensions between the Green-led Hastings Borough Council (HBC) and Reform UK, the main opposition group, burst to the surface at a prickly meeting of the Full Council on 15 July.

The antipathy between the two parties boiled over after a seemingly innocuous motion to “review” the town’s international twinning and friendship links was tabled by Doreena Ross, the Reform UK Group Leader.

The motion called on the council to set out “guiding principles” for its international partnerships, including “public benefit, transparency, community participation, and good governance.” It also requested a Cabinet report detailing HBC’s role in “all recognised international links, its relationship with the Hastings Association of Twin Towns (HATT), and the rationale for each link and whether they remain the most appropriate arrangements for Hastings today.”

Hastings currently maintains formal twinning arrangements with Dordrecht (Netherlands), Schwerte (Germany), Oudenaarde (Belgium), and Béthune (France), alongside friendship links with Hastings in Sierra Leone and Al-Mawasi in Gaza.

The friendship link with Al-Mawasi has proved to be particularly contentious. It was passed in July 2025 when the then minority-led Green-controlled council voted to twin Hastings with the Gaza town in a move described as showing “solidarity” with Palestine.

Although Reform UK had no councillors at the time, during the recent local election campaign the party issued “Pot Holes not Palestine” leaflets, arguing that HBC should prioritise local matters rather than give a platform to such a divisive foreign policy issue.

The Reform motion stopped short of calling for the link with Al-Mawasi to be severed, instead emphasising “transparency and clarity of purpose” to “help support public awareness, engagement and confidence.”

The motion riled Council Leader Glenn Haffenden. He responded saying “it was clear why we don’t want Reform UK running the council or even the government, because they have a one item agenda which has clearly been shown this evening.”

He went on to say that the “council does not spend any money on the twinning arrangements, nor does it waste council officer resources.” In stark contrast, he said Cllr Ross’ motion “would waste money and vital council resources” ahead of the local government reorganisation when “our officers are going to be so overworked to be able to try and get the best position for Hastings.”

The Reform UK Group Leader was clearly irritated by the comments saying she “found it extraordinary that there was so much defensiveness” from Cllr Haffenden, adding “he was playing politics” with the motion. She insisted that she was “raising the concerns of 8000 people who voted for Reform UK in the recent elections. We had many doorstep conversations, and we continued to have those. I did not bring a party line to this motion, and I take exception to that.”

The meeting agreed to refer the motion to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC) for consideration of its inclusion in its 2026/27 Work Programme.

At last Monday’s meeting of the OSC (20 July), it was agreed to set up a sub-committee, chaired by Cllr Ross, and for her to take forward evidence gathering and report back to OSC prior to reporting to Full Council in January.

Former Southern Water boss Matthew Wright and three other former employees are facing prosecution over allegations that they manipulated wastewater test results. A High Court ruling on 22 July cleared the way for fraud charges to be brought against the four individuals by the Environment Agency (EA) and Ofwat, the Water Services Regulation Authority.

The investigation stretches back several years, with the Environment Agency having gathered evidence over that period that the individuals allegedly conspired to defraud regulatory authorities. They are accused of creating artificial no-flow events at wastewater treatment works between 2012-17, thereby manipulating Southern Water’s own Operator Self-Monitoring (OSM) testing regime. Southern Water’s internal investigation disclosed this to the EA in 2017.

In December 2025, the EA submitted the evidence to prosecutors for review. District Judge Stephen Leake issued summonses to the four individuals – 61-year-old former chief executive Matthew Wright, 58-year-old Philip Barker, 65-year-old Clive Massey, and 64-year-old Mark Gregory – to face charges of defrauding Southern Water’s OSM regime. Wright challenged the decision, arguing that the EA lacked the authority to bring the prosecution in the first place. On 22 July, however, the High Court overruled that challenge.

The case will now be brought against the four individuals at Medway Magistrates’ Court. It is expected to be escalated to a Crown Court hearing, where Wright and the other defendants will enter their pleas. Wright’s solicitor has stated that his client denies all wrongdoing and fully cooperated with the EA’s investigation, suggesting that a not-guilty plea is likely. Should the case progress further, it could ultimately be heard in a full Crown Court trial before a jury. The alleged conspirators could face up to 10 years in prison for conspiracy to defraud.

This is not the first time Southern Water or its employees have faced regulatory action. In the Hastings area in particular, the company has been at the centre of public controversy over incidents such as a major pipe burst that discharged wastewater and flooded nearby beach huts in Bulverhythe. That incident occurred only weeks after a £90m fine was imposed on the company for previous infractions involving the discharge of raw sewage off the coasts of Hampshire, Kent and West Sussex.

Local MP, Helena Dollimore, who has campaigned for more stringent regulation and scrutiny of Southern Water’s operational decisions, says: “I’m furious to hear that Southern Water’s former bosses stand accused of rigging wastewater testing results. Environmental regulations aren’t optional. Allegedly fiddling the figures to disguise how much sewage they were pumping into our sea is an insult to coastal communities like ours. If found guilty, the water bosses must face the full force of the law. This case lays bare how broken the water industry is. The Government has already ramped up regulation so this can’t happen again. But now it’s time to go further and take water out of the hands of bosses who think they can cheat the system.”

This case marks a potentially significant turning point in water company regulation. While Southern Water has previously absorbed fines for operational breaches such as illegal sewage dumping – a practice that some in the House of Lords have argued is effectively built into its business model – this prosecution carries a different weight. If the alleged conspirators are found guilty and imprisoned, the company would face reputational liability that they would struggle to withstand.

See also Features on page 8 for the views of a sea swimmer.

In FAQs linked to the press release, the council emphasised that it does not own the site which “is privately owned”, and stated that it was involved “because the site presents a live public safety risk”.

The council has, however, subsequently insisted that it was already working with Historic England to prepare a schedule of urgent works at the site. These would be aimed not merely at sealing it off from unauthorised access and vandalism but also at preserving the listed buildings on the site.

The council acknowledges that it has statutory powers in relation to these listed buildings, including requiring the owners – in this case Kroll Advisory Limited, the receivers of the insolvent company DKSS Holdings – to undertake urgent works of preservation. However, a spokesperson for the council stated last week that such powers “have to be used carefully, proportionately and in accordance with statutory process. The council’s priority is to secure the preservation of the buildings through cooperation and engagement with those responsible for the site wherever possible.”

Although compulsory purchase could be undertaken where all else has failed, this “would only be considered where there is a clear legal basis, proper justification, resources, funding, and a deliverable future strategy for the site.”

For further explication of Hastings Borough Council’s approach to heritage responsibilities, see page 17 – Protecting our Heritage.

A campaign is growing for Hastings residents to join a boycott of payments to Southern Water. Organisations like Boycott Water Bills, Don’t Pay for Dirty Water and Extinction Rebellion have been urging consumers to withhold part of their water bill in protest at deliberate sewage releases into rivers and the sea.

A local online campaign is urging people in the Hastings area to join the boycott. “My bill has just gone up from £36 a month to £114” said A.L. on Facebook, “That’s an increase of more than £1,300 a year. It’s bad enough that they are polluting the sea, but we pay them over the odds to be an irresponsible provider.”

Another person posted: “Our (bill) went from £36 to £59 to £89 a month pretty quick.” The sharp rises seem to be a common theme among those complaining, with many saying their bills have doubled in recent months despite their using no additional water. The water utility company has faced record fines – £90 million in 2021 – and has paid huge sums in compensation for disruptions to supplies over the past few years. People on social media sites believe they are recouping the money through higher bills to consumers.

BoycottWaterBills.com says it is a group of individuals who have had enough of “paying water companies to pollute our waterways and seas – so we stopped paying.”` They claim that on average raw sewage entered rivers and seas in England and Wales more than 800 times every day last year. And they point out that as the water companies are monopolies, consumers are unable to choose any competitor. “What else can we do except stop paying for the wastewater treatment part of our bills?” they ask.

One Hastings resident involved in the local campaign says: “I’ve refused to pay the wastewater part of my bill since may last year. I still pay for the water I actually receive which is about £17 a month,” posts FB. “They referred me to debt recovery, but I’ve held firm and shown them that I am paying for the (part of the) service that is actually being delivered. Eventually they stop pursuing it.”

Last year the pressure group Surfers against Sewage carried out a poll which showed that 27% of consumers – more than one in four – had considered not paying or withholding part of their bill. They do not directly advocate withholding bill payments, preferring instead to campaign for reform of the water industry through petitions. They point out that in a recent year water companies paid out £1.4bn to shareholders, all whilst dumping raw sewage into “our rivers and seas” for 1.75 million hours – or 825 times a day on average.

HIP contacted Southern Water to ask how many enforcement actions they had taken in the past year but was told they did not have the precise figures to hand. However, parliamentary data reveals Southern Water is one of the most prolific users of debt enforcement agents in England and instructed bailiffs over 4,000 times in the most recent year for which figures were recorded.

Southern Water is deeply unpopular in parts of Hastings following floods in the town centre, long periods without water for some customers, and the massive plastic bead pollution of Camber Sands and the local coastline after illegal releases at an Eastbourne water treatment plant. It remains to be seen if the increases consumers are experiencing in their water bills will prompt many more to withhold payments.

The government has confirmed it will proceed with plans to abolish Hastings Borough Council (HBC), four other neighbouring district and borough councils, and East Sussex County Council, replacing them with a single unitary authority for East Sussex from April 2028.

The move is designed to simplify local government. Currently, services are split between two tiers: the county council handles strategic responsibilities such as education and social care, while district and borough councils manage more local matters like planning applications, housing, parks, and leisure centres. Under the new unitary model, all these services will be delivered by a new East Sussex Unitary Authority.

The government believes the reforms will “create stronger, more efficient councils that lay the foundations for real devolution and the economic growth that will bring new jobs and opportunities to communities right across England.”

The plans are broadly in line with the government’s original Local Government Reform proposals, published just before Christmas 2024. The only modification involves moving around 26,000 residents of East Saltdean, Peacehaven and Telscombe from the Lewes district into Brighton & Hove.

Cllr Glenn Haffenden, Leader of HBC, said he and his colleagues would continue to “work for the best for Hastings’ residents” throughout the reorganisation, ensuring their needs are prioritised when the new unitary council is formed. He insisted that existing councils would continue to deliver services, with continuity prioritised during the transition, and pledged close cooperation with partners to protect local services and secure the best possible outcome for East Sussex.

An unintended potential pitfall of the reform is Hastings losing its prized status as one of the Cinque Ports – a fate that befell nearby Seaford in 1974. As part of the last major reorganisation fifty years ago, Seaford lost its independent Urban District Council when it was absorbed into Lewes District Council. Consequently, Seaford – which had been granted “corporate limb” status under the Confederation as a subordinate to Hastings – formally ceased to be an active Cinque Port member. There is a very real fear that Hastings could face the same fate.

Hastings was one of the original five members of the Confederation of the Cinque Ports when it was formed in the 11th century by the Saxon kings. Henry III formalised the arrangement with a Royal Charter in 1260, offering Hastings, New Romney, Hythe, Dover and Sandwich lucrative inducements to supply ships and men to defend the coast. The town remained a key member of the club even after the devastating storm of 1287 destroyed its physical harbour.

Today, the Confederation of the Cinque Ports is a largely symbolic, civic, and charitable organisation. It brings a valuable tourist boost to each of the five towns – as was evident last year, when Cllr Becca Horn was invested as Speaker of the Cinque Ports at a historic ceremony in Hastings.

Once Hastings Borough Council is abolished in 2028, the town will lack both a council and a Mayor and, like Seaford half a century ago, risks losing its Cinque Port status unless it can secure formal civic recognition before then.

The council says it is aware of the problem. A council spokesperson said: “As we understand it, to remain a Cinque Port, Hastings needs to retain a formal civic status once local government reorganisation is complete. This could potentially be done by way of a town or parish council, or through the adoption of Charter Trustees, which are used to preserve civic and ceremonial rights that cannot otherwise be continued by a new unitary authority.

“Our Head of Community and Regulatory Services and Leader of the Council have met with the Confederation of Cinque Ports to understand how they can assist us as we move forward.

“The process to form a town or parish council is a Community Governance Review, which can take around a year. The general advice from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Local Government Boundary Commission for England has been not to undertake such a review once the local government reorganisation process begins. Full Council agreed on 14 January not to go ahead with a Community Governance Review at that stage, but to pursue the adoption of Charter Trustees.

“We will be asking the government to clarify the issue of Cinque Ports status and how civic and ceremonial functions will be treated through local government reorganisation. Further information received this week expands on ceremonial and civic historical legacy, but some elements need further clarification.

“Retaining Hastings’ Cinque Ports status is a priority for the council.

“Once the shadow unitary authority is in place following elections in May 2027, it will be for the shadow authority / new authority to consider whether to undertake a Community Governance Review process.”

Long-serving Labour Councillor Trevor Webb, the Father of the House, says he is “aghast” at the “gross negligence” of the Green-led HBC and its “failure to understand the consequences of what the abolition of the council and Mayor in 2028 actually means.” He says the only way Hastings can save its Cinque Port status is by establishing a Charter Trust or a Town Council but believes the latter option has already been left too late by HBC. “We cannot allow 1,000 years of our history to sink without a trace because of negligence and incompetence.”

Mr Cottrill has been serving as the council’s Interim Chief Executive since November 2024, sharing the role across Eastbourne and Lewes councils. He will now lead HBC’s senior management team and is likely to be in charge when the council is formally abolished in 2028 after local government reorganisation (LGR).

Council Leader Glenn Haffenden paid tribute to Rob Cottrill saying he “has provided stability and continuity during a period of significant organisational change, including LGR, devolution and the development of shared service arrangements with Eastbourne and Lewes.” These shared Chief Executive arrangements, he added, “have worked well and provided HBC with effective and experienced senior leadership” and have “strengthened collaboration between Hastings, Eastbourne and Lewes Councils while ensuring that Hastings continues to retain its own political and organisational identity and priorities.”

The meeting of the Full Council also approved the appointments on a permanent basis of Kate Slattery as the Council’s Chief Legal Officer and Coral Harding as Monitoring Officer.

The Source Park, one of the world’s largest underground skateparks, has been forced to close its doors with immediate effect due to urgent health and safety concerns. The shock announcement was made last Friday evening (24 July) at the start of the peak summer holiday season. The closure only affects the skatepark, which will remain shut until at least 2027. The hospitality businesses in the Courtyard will remain open as usual.

The Foreshore Trust, which owns the land on which the Source Park sits on behalf of Hastings Borough Council, has allocated £1.5m for emergency repair work to prevent water ingress and work to the concrete structures around the Source Park and Courtyard and the promenade in the immediate area. The tender process to find a contractor will start later this summer, and it is envisaged that the first phase of work should be completed in 2027, with further work taking over two to three years to complete in a phased approach. 

The closure, which came without warning, has drawn sharp criticism from former Hastings Borough Councillor Judy Rogers, who questioned why action was not taken sooner. She said: “It has been known for some time that this work was needed, so I would question why it has been left till the point when a forced closure is necessary at a point in the year when we have the most visitors in town and it’s school summer holidays.”

The Source Park was opened in 2016, on the site of what was once a Turkish baths complex built in the 1870s. It sits below sea-level and has always had maintenance problems with dampness and water ingress. 

In March, as part of the perpetual battle against the elements, the Foreshore Trust agreed to allocate £50,000 to prepare a tender pack to identify the scale of the works needed to address water ingress from the promenade and concrete repair works, including the “removal of loose or potentially dangerous areas within the main skate park” and to prepare tender documentation for future works.

At a meeting of Hastings Borough Council’s Charity Committee on 22 June, Kate Darbyshire, the Foreshore Trust Manager, presented councillors with a report setting out plans to allocate up to £1.5m over three years to undertake the repair in phased stages. They were told that a “phased approach would minimise disruption to tenants while allowing the effectiveness of the initial remedial works to be assessed before progressing to further internal repairs.”

The phased approach to the repair works was abandoned, however, following the discovery of “falling concrete and crumbling fire exits” as reported by the Source Park owners on Facebook, which prompted the Foreshore Trust to close the skatepark immediately. A spokesperson for the Trust said: “Safeguarding this key asset is a priority, and it is unfortunate that the required work means the park must close for a period of time. We apologise that the closure has come at such short notice; this is due to health and safety concerns at the park that made it necessary to close immediately.”

The closure of the skatepark has also forced the postponement of the popular Battle of Hastings BMX event, originally scheduled for September. The event organisers say the competition will now take place in 2027, with a new date to be confirmed once the repair schedule has been finalised.

Responding to concerns about pre-paid memberships of the skatepark, Source Park posted on Facebook that they “will contact everyone with memberships in due course.”

The double blow will fall hardest on those already struggling to make ends meet. With the cost-of-living crisis still biting and school canteens firmly shut, the removal of automatic holiday food support will leave many parents scrambling to put meals on the table. 

At the heart of the food voucher controversy is a decision by the Reform UK-led ESCC to stop automatically issuing supermarket vouchers to struggling families over the holidays. The council believes they can “provide better, more targeted support to those families facing the greatest challenges” through other initiatives. However, the timing of the announcement meant many parents only discovered they would not receive vouchers over the holidays in the final week of the summer term.

The sudden shutdown of the Source Park has drawn sharp criticism of the Foreshore Trust, the charitable body that controls and administers seafront land on behalf of Hastings Borough Council from Bulverhythe to Ecclesbourne Glen. Only last month, the Foreshore Trust set out plans for a “phased approach” to essential repair works at Source Park “to minimise disruption.” Those plans have now been abandoned, amid accusations of poor communication and mismanagement – a common complaint about council management of places like Azur and St Mary in the Castle.

Reform UK-led East Sussex County Council (ESCC) has scrapped the automatic allocation of supermarket food vouchers for struggling families over the summer holidays. The decision has provoked outrage from parents and drawn sharp criticism from local Labour MP Helena Dollimore, who described the decision as “disgraceful” and demanded it be “urgently reversed”.

The county council decided to stop issuing food vouchers to eligible families after the central government funding programme, the Household Support Fund (HSF) scheme, officially closed on 31 March. The scheme was replaced on 1 April with a new Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF), with additional Government funding of over £1 billion a year, compared with £742 million provided under the HSF.

ESCC continued providing holiday vouchers over Easter and May half-term, but Council Leader Cllr Andy Woolley confirmed they will not be extended to the summer break.

Under the new arrangements, councils are no longer mandated to automatically distribute vouchers. Instead, they have local discretion over how to allocate support. Rather than issuing vouchers, the County Council Leader believes ESCC can “provide better, more targeted support, with a stronger emphasis on tackling the causes of hardship, building resilience, and supporting families facing the greatest challenges over the longer term.”

Cllr Woolley insisted “the change would not mean support has disappeared” and stressed “help remains available for families in crisis, alongside a range of other support programmes.” Acknowledging why people may be concerned about the end of food vouchers, “particularly in communities where many families are already struggling,” he added: “No one wants to see a child go hungry during the school holidays.”

The Council Leader conceded no “single scheme can meet every family’s needs” and defended the council’s shift towards supporting those “families facing the most significant difficulties”. He emphasised that “families eligible for free school meals can access free activities and meals through the Holiday Food and Fun sessions running across East Sussex during the summer holidays.” These are also paid for by the government.

The Labour MP for Hastings, Rye and the villages, Helena Dollimore, called on Reform UK “to be honest with the public about their political decision to take away school holiday meal vouchers from children who need them the most.”

The MP also accused ESCC of failing to give families adequate notice of their plans, noting that many parents only discovered in the final week of the summer term that they would not receive the vouchers over the holidays, despite record government funding of £7.3m to ESCC back in April to help transition to the new scheme. She described the late communication as “totally unacceptable” and warned “the decision puts hundreds of children across East Sussex at risk.”

In response to the county council’s decision not to issue summer holiday food vouchers, Barry Ashley, from the Grumpy Cook in Hastings, has launched his own campaign to fight food poverty without stigma. The Help Feed a Child This Summer initiative aims to provide free lunches to those who need them most to ensure that no child goes hungry during the school holidays.

The initiative has quickly galvanised local support with nearby cafes and grocers offering surplus ingredients, and an online crowdfunder has raised more than £3,000 within its first week. Community centres and church halls across Hastings have also offered their spaces as collection points, turning the campaign into a town-wide effort that many residents see as a powerful expression of local solidarity.

Homes for Hastings

Hastings Council leader Glenn Haffenden has welcomed new affordable houses coming on stream with the first residents moving into new homes at Orbit’s Levett View development in Harrow Lane, St Leonards.

The council says that in June alone, 24 affordable rented homes were tenanted. A total of 140 homes will be delivered at Levett View, with 86 of these for affordable rent or social rent. These homes are capped at Local Housing Allowance rates – the amount likely to be paid in housing benefit. The remaining homes are available for purchase through Shared Ownership to help local people take their first step onto the property ladder.  Cllr Haffenden said “The mix of affordable housing will help meet local housing needs and give more people the opportunity to access a safe, secure and affordable home. I welcome Orbit’s continued investment in the town and the positive impact this development will have for local residents.” However, according to the council’s own Housing Strategy report from January this year, Hastings faces “acute housing challenges, including relatively high levels of deprivation, low household incomes, and a shortage of truly affordable homes.”

George Street Action

The long delayed work to improve the derelict appearance of 39-41 George Street in The Old Town following an extensive fire in January 2023 has continued after discussions between council officers and the private developers and contractors. The council says this has included cutting back vegetation, stabilising the side fencing and covering the exposed side walls, which is due to be completed by next Tuesday. There has also been a “site-wide general tidy up”.

New gates and information boards have been ordered, and will be installed “when they have been delivered”. Council officers say they will continue to monitor progress closely and remain in direct contact with the contractor. The aim is to secure visible improvements as quickly as possible while the legal agreement linked to the wider redevelopment is completed. Local residents and traders have previously criticised ‘inordinate’ delays over action to improve the appearance of the highly visible site at the end of an important and busy pedestrian and tourist street. At the close of last year the council promised swift action which has taken more than half a year to materialise.

Custody Visits Praised

The Sussex Police Commission headed by Katy Bourne has been “recognised nationally for the outstanding quality of its work” for its independent custody visiting scheme (ICV). Under the Scheme, trained volunteers from local communities make regular, unannounced visits to police custody suites across Sussex to check on the welfare and dignity of detainees. Their findings are reported to Commissioner Katy Bourne who, the Commission says, uses this “independent scrutiny information to hold Sussex Police to account and help ensure that those detained are treated fairly and respectfully by custody officers and staff.”

A number of protesters arrested in the Hastings area have previously complained to HIP about long delays and unnecessary bureaucracy over their detention, as well as “heavy handed” actions by police in arresting them in the first place.

Progress on Castle Visitor Centre

Planning permission has been granted for a landmark new visitor centre at the West Hill Café site, which, according to the council, marks a significant milestone in the delivery of the Government-funded Hastings Town Deal project.

Approved by Hastings Borough Council’s Planning Committee on 8 July, the proposals will see the existing West Hill Café replaced with a modern visitor centre, café and restaurant. The development will improve the visitor experience while supporting the long-term conservation and sustainable future of one of Hastings’ most important historic landmarks. The new visitor centre will become a key part of the experience of visiting the West Hill, Hastings Castle and the West Hill Lift.

According to deputy council leader Julia Hilton: “It will help safeguard one of our most important heritage assets and put it back at the heart of our history as a town as well as attracting more visitors to enjoy everything Hastings has to offer.”

Knife Crime Reduction

The number of knife-enabled crimes committed in Sussex dropped by 15 per cent last year and almost £3million of funding was secured to tackle the issue, according to a report to Sussex’s Police and Crime Panel. Sussex Crime Commission Chief executive Mark Streater acknowledged that a lot of offences are underreported, but he said the Violent Reduction Partnership Board has dedicated analysts and looks at things like the National Crime Survey to get a clearer picture of the issue and that the partnership board worked closely with the NHS to capture incidents where possible victims or offenders have attended hospital with injuries. Concerns were raised by the Panel that knife-enabled crime statistics did not include online knife crime where weapons are brandished to intimidate and cause fear, and they remained concerned about the bigger picture of knife related crime.

The Prince of Wales paid a whirlwind visit to Hastings on 9 July, spending the day meeting local fishermen, playing crazy golf and being inducted into the Winkle Club as an honorary member . The visit was designed to highlight the vital work of local youth organisations and community-driven groups.

The royal visit began with Prince William descending from the East Hill funicular railway where he was greeted by a crowd of well-wishers. His first official stop was with local fishermen where he climbed aboard the Senlac Jack and chatted with crew members about the struggles of the town’s historic beach-launched boats. He listened attentively as skipper Roland Kelly told him about the problems of overfishing by large EU trawlers, the complexities of fishing quotas, and the impact of warming sea temperatures on the fishing industry. He later toured the iconic wooden net shops.

On a lighter note, the Prince was inducted into the Winkle Club as an honorary member. The local charitable organisation was founded by fishermen in 1900 to support families in need, and past members include his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, the Queen Mother, Sir Winston Churchill, and Field Marshal Lord Montgomery.

Prince William was given a silver winkle as a token of his lifetime membership and was told that members of the club, known as ‘Winklers’ must carry their shell at all times and that failure to present it on demand when challenged to “Winkle Up” would result in a fine. He accepted the responsibility with a smile and promised to “take good care of my winkle”.

The next stop was a visit to Eagle House, where the Prince chatted with young people and volunteers who use the space as a youth club and gathering place. The building is owned by Hastings Commons which aims to transform some of the town’s historic and neglected buildings by turning them into shared homes, workspaces and hubs of social support that are owned and run by the community.

Later in the day, William headed to the Hastings Adventure Miniature Golf, meeting  young people supported by the local youth charity XTrax and enjoyed a round of crazy golf. At almost exactly the same time Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex – William’s estranged brother and his family – were meeting their father, the King, 160 miles away at Highgrove

Letter

About Horsing

Dear Editor

I was interested to read the article by Peter Grey about Norman horses and how they were shipped across the sea. The image on the Bayeux tapestry clearly shows the Norman sailors lowering the horses off the ship using the mast as a hoist to lower the horse over the side of the ship safely. One sailor is lowering the mast while one man is steading the boat with a pole secured in the beach. Another man is using the rope to lower the horse while another man is in the sea guiding the horse to the ground. The horses do not appear to be jumping off the boat! Mast of a Viking style ship had a pulley at the top used to hoist up the sail and the mast can be lowered when they are being rowed or moored. These kind of ships were well used by the Saxons and the Normans and can be seen in Viking ship museums in Oslo and Roskilde in Norway and Denmark. The nuns sewing the tapestry have not shown leather slings that would have been used to support the horse while they are being lowered. I am sure when Hastingers visit the British Museum to see the tapestry they can see it for themselves.

Regarding Roger’s invasion of Sicily, the chroniclers at the time mention a date of 1061 and not 1038!

Paul Reed

From our website

Syd’s Last Stand

Fun though Nick Tucker’s preview of ‘Syd’s Last Stand” (HIP 305) is, he’s arguably too much of a fan boy to be objective.

LSD, sometimes enjoyable, other times curdling your karma, does not automatically confer wisdom. Consequently, Syd’s solo albums were merely whimsical, fitfully entertaining and thankfully less pretentious and overlong than Pink Floyd’s later LPs.

Floorboards are not iconic; they simply stop you from falling through the ceiling. A more interesting question to ask when analysing the album cover might be why an unacknowledged woman is adopting such an uncomfortable pose in the background? I’m sure her nudity was essential to the artistic message, yet Syd, for some reason lost to rock history, retains his clothes… 

TK Bedford

From our website

Betty Important

I enjoyed the Betty Parsons exhibition last year. I agree the title was a misnomer, but as a researcher who’s written about a number of mid-twentieth century women artists, I found it very interesting to see the work from Betty Parsons, who supported women artists at a time when macho personalities dominated the world of abstract expressionism while ignoring the women. She was important.

Susan Gilbert

The future of the former Convent of Holy Child Jesus in St Leonards is in serious doubt following a fire which destroyed a large area of buildings.

The blaze is being treated as arson and Police said they had arrested two boys aged 13 and 14 on suspicion of deliberately starting the fire.

A total of eight fire appliances fought the flames after calls to the emergency services around 5.00 pm on Wednesday 9 July. Firefighters, who had come from as far away as Eastbourne and Heathfield, remained on the scene overnight to continue monitoring and damping down hotspots.

Roads in the area were closed and residents advised to shut doors and windows because of billowing smoke. The fire service said they were seeking specialist advice from the UK Health Security Agency due to ash on cars and buildings following the fire.

The Convent of Holy Child Jesus has been in the centre of a longstanding row over responsibility for securing the empty site and preventing vandalism. Less than a month before the fire, Hastings Borough council threatened to take enforcement action against the owners of the buildings. The move followed numerous incidents of trespass and vandalism. One video posted on social media showed a man destroying a window frame in the curtilage of a listed building with a hammer. Photos collected by the pressure group Save The Convent demonstrated widespread damage in numerous rooms.

After the convent nuns relocated to Mayfield in the 1970s the site was operated as a summer language school until it was sold to private investors. As reported in the last issue of HIP, the registered owners of the 15-acre estate are DKSS Holdings Limited, who paid £3.9 million for it in 2021. Company documents show that they borrowed nearly the entire sum from a Luxembourg-registered company Creo 12. The accrued interest on the loan rose to more £1m before the lender appointed a firm of receivers, Kroll Advisory Ltd, to attempt to recover their money. Hastings Borough Council (HBC) said they had repeatedly tried but failed to engage the owners to secure the site and limit damage to what they termed “this important heritage site that includes a Grade 2* listed chapel”.

However, within weeks of the deputy leader of HBC, Julia Hilton, threatening enforcement action, a significant portion of the buildings appear to have been deliberately destroyed by the fire.

Hastings MP Helena Dollimore called for a full investigation of the circumstances of the fire. She said it was “infuriating that this has happened after so many of us have repeatedly warned the site is not secure and urged the site manager and the local council to do all in their power to protect it.”

HBC reiterated that the former convent site is privately owned and is not owned or managed by the Council. “Responsibility for securing the site and maintaining the buildings rests with the owners. The council will carry on pursuing all action available to us to ensure the owner fulfils their responsibilities”.

It remains unclear, however, as to exactly who such action would be taken against. DKSS Holdings appear to be technically insolvent, their creditor is a foreign company not named as an owner by the Land Registry and the receivers Kroll deny financial responsibility saying the ‘lender’, ie Creo 12, would be required to ‘fund any necessary works’.

The community group Save the Convent told HIP they were ‘appalled’ by the fire and that the Grade 2* listed building – the Pugin Chapel which seems to have survived intact – needs urgent protection. They reiterated that they wanted to find a community-based solution “We are eager to work with the council on restoring the building and creating a community village space, with co-op housing, community arts centre, community gardens, museum, community cafe and micro business space, all of which are ideally suited to this beautiful site.” However they have not said if they have any potential backers to finance their scheme.

Thus the immediate future of the damaged buildings remains unclear. It is not known whether they were insured nor whether any insurance company would pay up, given the longstanding problems with lax security as well as the allegations of arson against two minors. Some observers believe that the most likely outcome will now inevitably be a heavily discounted ‘fire sale’ to a property developer who will put forward a scheme for market housing.

Hastings police stand accused of ‘lacking enforcement’ over aggressive begging and antisocial behaviour in the Wellington Place area of the town centre, while the council confirms an increase in disruptive incidents involving groups of young people.

Local shop workers, managers and owners have told HIP of numerous incidents including fist-fights and other disturbances which, they say, often involve street sleepers and people with alcohol and drug dependency problems.

A spokesperson for Hastings Borough Council (HBC) told us: “East Sussex County Council’s Youth Offending Service and Early Help teams have been working alongside Sussex Police to identify the ringleaders and ensure that serious offenders are appropriately dealt with, while also seeking opportunities to divert young people away from offending behaviour through early intervention.”

One employee at the local McDonald’s in Wellington Place witnessed a fight breaking out in the fast-food outlet during his evening shift. “It wasn’t clear who started it,” he said, “but it was between a middle-aged man and three teenage boys. Fortunately, no weapons were involved, but the scuffle resulted in blood being spilt onto the shop floor. It was extremely intimidating.”

IMPROBABLE EXPERIENCE

These firsthand experiences from locals and workers are evidence that contradict the idea of a family-friendly atmosphere in Wellington Place. In daytime, the experiences seem improbable; police are patrolling, and the Hastings community is enjoying the heat, in the hotter than average 2026 summer. Yet the area shows many symptoms of decline; shops on the brink of closure are running emergency sales. Litter wafts along the gutters and remnants of rough sleeping camps – mattresses and sleeping bags – are present for all to see. Shops’ corrugated shutters are scrawled with graffiti. According to local workers, by evening there are insufficient police on the beat – which is when instances of antisocial behaviour rear their head.

The problems are far from new. A senior manager at Kokoro, which serves East Asian cuisine, said they petitioned Sally-Ann Hart during her time as Hastings MP between 2019 and 2025. After six meetings with her and Police Commissioners, they finally got a Police Pod installed two years ago.  This is a portable or temporary policing hub – effectively a miniature police station – with CCTV coverage of the surrounding area.

Kokoro cited an incident where local boys had thrown a cup of McDonald’s coca-cola at their front counter, resulting in the damages of store Point-Of-Sale (POS) equipment. Since then, they have banned groups of young boys from using their outside seating.

On the topic of repeated antisocial behaviour from local young people, a council spokesman has said: “We are aware of concerns about antisocial behaviour in Hastings town centre. Over the past couple of months there has been an increase in incidents involving groups of young people, and the Safer Hastings Partnership has been closely monitoring the situation and coordinating a multi-agency response. East Sussex County Council’s Youth Offending Service and Early Help teams have been working alongside Sussex Police to identify the ringleaders and ensure that serious offenders are appropriately dealt with, while also seeking opportunities to divert young people away from offending behaviour through early intervention.”

ENGAGING YOUNG PEOPLE

The council says the partnership has funded youth outreach services to patrol some of the more secluded locations where young people tend to gather during the warmer months and that this work is continuing, with additional support from Active Hastings and Hastings Commons. All of which “helps to engage young people in the wide range of positive diversionary activities available across the town”.

However employees at both Millets and Kamsons Pharmacy say there is an ‘increasing trend’ towards unprevented, street-based antisocial behaviour, often worsening towards the evening. One argued that the decision of JD Sports to actively prosecute shoplifters acts as a far greater deterrent than the patchy police presence.

Besides commenting on actions taken against young people, the HBC spokesperson said: “The council and its partners recognise the impact that antisocial behaviour can have on residents, businesses and visitors. Tackling these issues remains a priority. The Antisocial Behaviour Public Spaces Protection Order (ASB PSPO) is an important enforcement tool, helping agencies tackle a wide range of antisocial behaviour and manage alcohol consumption in public places.”

INCREASED SHOPLIFTING

According to Sussex police data, overall crime in the area has declined slightly between May 2025 and 2026, particularly antisocial crime – yet shoplifting has proportionally increased. The solar-powered Pod, which cost around £12,000 to install as part of a £1.4 million county-wide investment, has previously been attributed to a 14% decline in hotspot area crime.

HBC told us that they recognise the importance of a visible police presence in the town centre, particularly during busy periods and in warmer weather, and “partners continue to work closely with Sussex Police to respond to emerging issues and community concerns.”

However HIP’s investigation showed a marked discrepancy between official police initiatives and the actual experiences and sentiments felt by Wellington Place visitors and employees on the ground.

A senior staff member at Vape & Mobile, who along with most people we spoke to asked to remain anonymous, expressed their grievances at the persistent presence of “local pissheads, drug addicts and pushy beggars”. They recalled their experience of rough sleepers at their shop windows, which would trigger security sensors in product display windows and deter potential customers. They said that many of these antisocial individuals “tended to be the same faces”, and observed that whilst the police showed presence, this presence lacked enforcement of aggressive begging in the area.

Several people pointed to the presence of Change Grow Live, a CGL-managed Alcohol and Drugs rehabilitation centre, stationed based in Wellington Place as contributing to the problems in the area. The Kokoro restaurant say they “hit a stone wall” in trying to get this moved to a new location following discussions with Sally-Ann Hart and the police.

EXTENSIVE DRUG SUPPORT

Not everyone thinks that moving the service would solve the area’s problems. According to the Change Grow Live website their drugs team provides essential support for people who use a wide range of drugs including opiates, cocaine, cannabis, ketamine, MDMA and steroids. They also provide a needle exchange and “recovery-focused counselling, detox and rehab programmes”. One Hastings Resident told HIP that closing or moving a valuable resource like that could exacerbate addiction related problems of antisocial behaviour.  And, anyway, it was wrong to blame people with addiction and possible mental health issues for all the problems in Wellington Place.

The council says that The Safer Hastings Partnership works closely with housing services, substance misuse services, health partners and voluntary organisations such as Seaview to address the complex issues that can contribute to antisocial behaviour. Recognising that antisocial behaviour is often a symptom of more complex personal circumstances, the partnership aims to balance enforcement with appropriate support and intervention.

Hastings is the third most deprived authority district in East Sussex, making it more likely that individuals can fall into difficult circumstances. The existence of support centres is essential to the community, for if people involved in antisocial behaviour as a cause of drug or alcohol addiction have no support in rebuilding their lives there seems every likelihood they will continue to cause harm to themselves or other

Hastings is expected to rejoin the 1066 Country marketing partnership in the near future. Deputy Council leader Julia Hilton told HIP that they had been in discussions with the group “over the past few weeks” over rejoining “in particular for their excellent work promoting the area to the overseas market.”

The move follows pressure from the town’s MP and Labour members of the council to rejoin the local tourism board which promotes the 378 square miles of East Sussex from Pevensey Bay to Camber Sands and back to the Kent border.

In February 2023 the council, then controlled by Labour, withdrew its support for 1066 Country saying the £50,000 a year cost was unaffordable. Councillor Andy Batsford said at the time: “Hastings is a really strong brand in its own right and we feel we can go it alone and actually push hard on the new businesses, the new investment, the new cultural buzz that is happening in the town.”

However, Mr Batsford along with council leader Paul Barnett and four other members resigned from the Labour Party later that year to sit as independents. Earlier this month the three remaining Labour councillors called for the council to rejoin the tourism and marketing initiative. Councillor Billie Barnes tabled a motion at full council supporting the idea, saying ‘“The Bayeux Tapestry returning to Britain represents an exceptional, once-in- a-generation opportunity for the area. It is vital to put on a united effort as ‘one 1066 Country’ to maximise regional tourism opportunities and profile”.

1066 Country Marketing describes itself as a ‘thriving public and private sector partnership, bringing together Rother District Council, Wealden District Council, Tourism South East, National Trust and English Heritage alongside scores of private businesses.’

Local MP Helena Dollimore supported the call for Hastings to rejoin, saying many local businesses who rely on tourism “want Hastings to return to the 1066 Country Tourism partnership. … with Hastings Council receiving a record funding settlement from the Labour Government this year, now is the time to return to this important partnership and I hope councillors will support this.”

Cllr Julia Hilton remained tight-lipped about the cost of rejoining. “I won’t comment on the financial contribution we will be making for that work as that is still being finalised,” she told HIP. As a result of the decision, she said: “The motion that the Labour group was intending to bring has therefore been rejected as the work to rejoin is already in progress.”

John Bownas, business improvement manager for the Love Hastings marketing group said he was positive “the majority of leisure and tourism businesses – in fact probably all businesses in the borough – will wholeheartedly welcome the call to reinstate Hastings’ funding for 1066 Country Marketing”.

Mr Bownas pointed out that the decision to withhold the £50,000 contribution to the partnership and replace it with a local budget of £15,000 meant Hastings had ‘lost a seat at the table where strategic tourism marketing happens. This has left our local businesses immensely frustrated, feeling that their individual membership fees are perhaps being spent to the benefit of other towns in the wider region.’ He estimated the regional visitor economy to be worth in the region of £665 million which means that the overall saving to the council of £35,000 was disproportionate as the potential return on investment is enormous. Tourists don’t plan their holidays around local authority borders, he said: “When visitors come to the South East, they see Hastings, Battle, and Rye as one interconnected destination. Trying to market Hastings in a hyper-local silo not only duplicates administrative effort, but it actively confuses consumers and forces our attractions to compete rather than collaborate.”

Hastings police are investigating a fire at the former Convent of the Holy Child Jesus on Magdalen Road in St Leonards as arson.

The blaze was reported at around 17.00 on Thursday 9 July and ultimately eight fire engines attended, coming from as far away as Eastbourne and Heathfield. Roads in the area were closed and local residents advised to stay indoors to avoid the heavy smoke from the blaze.

Police say two boys aged 13 and 14 were arrested on suspicion of arson and that investigations continue.

The buildings of the former convent school have been subject to repeated incursion and vandalism in recent months.

Read more on this story in the next issue of the Hastings Independent, out on 16 July.

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 inviting bids from groups of residents or community organisations with proposals of how best to spend it.

This funding programme – originally launched by Rishi Sunak’s government as the Long Term Plan For Towns, then re-branded under Labour as its Plan for Neighbourhoods, then further re-branded as Pride in Place – is to be divided between three separate pots. One, styled Pride in Our Streets, will provide up to £250,000 per year for small-scale ‘interventions’ in the public realm, such as provision of bins, bus shelters, benches or murals; a second, styled Pride in Our Neighbourhood, offers up to £500,000 per year for projects such as improvements to community centres, sports facilities and youth activities; a third, named Pride in Our Town, will make up to £1 million available per year for heritage projects and major infrastructure in the town centre or on the seafront.

A separate fund of £1m, called the Pride in Place Impact Fund, was announced in March to be spent on installing or upgrading playgrounds in neighbourhoods across the borough, including a ‘transformation’ of the existing facility in Alexandra Park.

Applications for funding from the first two pots are now being invited. The opportunity to bid will remain open until 31 August, with decisions expected in October. The criteria for choosing one bid over another have not been spelled out, nor is it clear who within the HNB will ultimately make the choices.

Former Hastings Borough Council (HBC) manager Kevin Boorman is Chair of the Board. Its decisions are supposed to be independent of either the borough or county councils, but its administrative staff are seconded from HBC employment, and it has proclaimed a policy of requiring ‘match funding’ from councils or other stakeholders – for example, a housing association will be expected to contribute where a facility is improved on its land. Good relations, and favourable negotiation, with these authorities is therefore paramount.

Other current HNB members include Hastings & Rye MP Helena Dollimore, and representatives from the county council, Sussex Police, Hastings Voluntary Action, Arts Hastings CIC, the Chamber of Commerce and other business groups. In recent months the Board has sought to expand and diversify its membership “to add new voices and different perspectives”, and has reported receiving 123 individual applications to join. Sixteen of these applicants have been short-listed; none has yet been appointed.

How any Board member, whether existing or to be added, will influence future funding decisions, remains to be resolved. Past decisions taken by the similarly constituted Town Deal Board (including the award in 2022 to develop the ill-fated Owens enterprise in the former Debenhams building) were taken opaquely, and seemingly determined in practice by external management consultancies assessing ‘business cases’. The HNB is no doubt mindful of this history, and aims for something different.

Businesses Fined

Following investigation by immigration enforcement officers, two businesses in Hastings have been fined for employing illegal workers.

Edi’s Car Wash Ltd in Battle Road have had a £40,000 penalty imposed on them, as has Halsho Stores Ltd, previously trading in Bexhill Road. Both companies were found to be employing staff not entitled to work in the UK or undertaking insufficient checks as to their immigration status.

Homes Development at Northeye

Homes England is carrying out community consultation on prospective house-building on the site of the former prison at Northeye, west of Bexhill. The site was bought by the Home Office in 2023 for £15.4 million as a potential  immigration detention centre, but transferred to Homes England in February this year.

There was a general drop-in session offered at Little Common Community Centre last Saturday, and a guided tour of the prison itself scheduled for yesterday (Thursday). Homes England has, however, made it clear that it plans to demolish around 70 existing buildings within the site “at the earliest opportunity”. It claims to have, or that it will have, “detailed strategies” to combat known asbestos contamination and “protect nature”.

The site is allocated for up to around 300 homes in Rother District Council’s emerging Local Plan.

Best Beach

In a survey issued by AA Roadwatch last week, Hastings Beach was rated among the top beaches in the south-east – only Hayling Island and Hove scored better on an index weighting average: Google review scores and search volumes, car parking costs, lifeguard services, RNLI lifeboat station proximity, average water temperature and monthly hours of sunshine.

The quality of water at Hastings pulled down the overall score. However, average sea temperature in July (18.7C) was the highest among any of the top 20.

From our website

We Need Defence

In response to We Won’t Be Silenced (HIP 303), I’m not for any war. However, we need defence, right? Or should we have no defence and just let any country that feels like it come and attack the UK? We’ll all be speaking Russian soon then.

So if we need defence, we need to buy things like F16s. Someone has to make them. General Dynamics employs a few hundred people in Hastings making parts – not whole systems, and not all for defence but some for luxury goods. So they’d rather they are unemployed instead?

It’s a very biased view. Where would you draw the line? We can probably link all industry to defence systems, so let’s shut down every employment opportunity in Hastings then? I can’t see why you choose to go with “mainly makes products related to war”, while saying nothing about defending our country.

General Dynamics is a global aerospace and defence corporation known primarily for manufacturing Gulfstream business jets, nuclear-powered submarines, main battle tanks, and advanced defence and avionic systems. So here’s hoping, for the jobs of the people, that the Green party have more sense than the journalist here.

Ian Summerfield

Letter

Contra Costa

Dear HIP

In the light of recent appearances in HIP, would you consider starting a conversation with your readership about what a community newspaper is, and what it is for?

I like having a community newspaper, and I appreciate the time and efforts of the volunteers that keep the paper going.  For myself, I don’t expect to agree with everything I see because, obviously, different parts of the community have different opinions. I like the way HIP is usually full of information about a range of local, independent and community-friendly projects and businesses.

Usually. But HIP issues 303 and 304 dedicated whole pages to an advert for a coffee-house chain owned by Coca-Cola. There are several reasons why this is, in my opinion, a terrible idea. I’ll stick to the main two.

Firstly, I would expect that as a community newspaper, HIP is against genocide. I wonder if your editors are aware that vast numbers of people, charities and community organisations around the world are taking part in a BDS (boycott, divest and sanction) campaign to try and stop companies from investing in Israel whilst its government maintains its murderous stranglehold on the Palestinian people? It’s much the same as the boycott campaign that people and organisations around the world successfully used to put an end to the apartheid regime in South Africa.

Secondly, the full-page ad for a corporate outlet sits very oddly with your usual content about local businesses, projects, charities and politics – the kind of endeavours, in fact, which are often threatened by the expansion and promotion of big, corporate businesses.

Perhaps you don’t see it that way, or perhaps you weren’t aware that the establishment you are promoting is a Coca-Cola company, and therefore should not, in many people’s opinion, be assisted by community-friendly organisations?

I’d be interested to know your position on this.

Kay Green

Letter

Heritage Responses

In response to Hastings Heritage in Peril (HIP 304), Hastings Borough Council and its officers do need to protect our heritage (and any tourism benefit), but we should all care. The protection and restoration of buildings and monuments must be the norm – not the exception! With the dearth of industry in our area we rely heavily upon tourism to supplement the rates. Not caring about our heritage is to not care about our area’s future. We do need to move forward, but we need to work around our history.

Bryan Fisher

The “above-ground shelters” listed as “in danger” at Robertson Terrace are the outlets for the fans that ventilated the car park when it was originally built. The machinery was removed some time ago along with the ducting which provided ventilation in a time when most cars produced a lot of fumes when running.

Peter Roadman

From our website

Reform in Charge at County Hall

Not even pretending to be objective, are you (Tories Hand Council to Reform, HIP 303)? Minority administrations exist in many councils and do so with the support of smaller parties. If they could have made the numbers, doubtless Labour and the Lib Dems would have supported a Green minority council.

Likewise Reform councillors may not be very experienced, but neither would the Green councillors if they had formed a majority, and they are now running Hastings Borough Council.

Also, consistently demonising Reform as ‘Nigel Farage’s far right party’ is doing you no favours.

Stephen Butterton

I’m extremely concerned. Decent social care was already a major concern for all of us and our families, and so much else too. If East Sussex County Council Reform leadership echoes Kent County Council Reform, which it will, we are going to be in even more dire straits. The result shows the utter mess that Labour nationally has brought to bear at the local level.

While national and local government are not the same, the local political landscape has been influenced by national performance. Starmer has been such an out-of-touch nonentity, an a-political disaster with no political nous, charisma or knowledge, being led by the nose by his handlers at the national level. The Tories were unable to cut through after years of Johnson, Truss and Sunak because no one believes them any more. They cut local government budgets to the bone as it is.

It’s no surprise to many that politically inexperienced voters are fed up and desperate for something different, so have fallen for Farage’s racist-schtick and ‘nationalist’ messages of flag-waving hypocrisy that are meaningless. But just you wait, Reform voters – you will see he is nothing but a shape-shifter who only wishes to garner power and money for himself, like his friend across the water, Trump.

Rosie Brocklehurst

Letter

Cool School

Dear HIP

During this very hot week many schools have closed or curtailed their day length, and who can blame them? We would just like to give a shout out to Sandown Primary School’s response.

On Wednesday our grandchildren came out of school saying they had had “the best day ever”. The school had provided bowls of cold water for the children to put their feet in and wet cloths for their heads as well as other inventive methods of keeping them cool.

Today has defeated even this seemingly indefatigable team, but they deserve great credit for their actions.

Sheila and Charlie Hume

From our website

GP Changes for the Better

Yes, I remember the times when you had ‘your’ GP (‘Medical’ Malaise in HIP 304). Often working alone with no nurse or other specialist auxiliaries, and without the range of diagnostic tests which are now routine. And if ‘your’ GP was rude or just brushed you off (“you’re just a young girl, you’re not important to me”), that was it. Personally, I much prefer the present system with all its stresses and strains.

The government needs to turn its full attention to GP services and primary care generally. They should not be expected to run businesses alongside their medical practice, which means rethinking the contract with the NHS. They need the money to employ new doctors  – at the moment those can’t get GP jobs. And I suggest that we should all be prepared to accept appointments with a nurse, or a call from the pharmacist, if that answers our issue.

Bea Rogers

We would love to hear from you.

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Following repeated incursions and vandalism in recent weeks at the former Convent of the Holy Child Jesus in St Leonards, lead member for heritage issues at Hastings Borough Council (HBC) Cllr Julia Hilton has threatened the owners with enforcement action. She told HIP that those who are responsible for the site had adopted a “lax attitude to security” for too long. She added that council officers had “worked really hard to get the owners/receivers to engage” and was now hopeful that the site will be more securely hoarded “as soon as possible”.

The council previously said that its overriding concern remains the risk to life posed by unauthorised people entering the site and that damage to “this important heritage site that includes a Grade 2* listed chapel, must be limited”.

One problem appears to be establishing exactly who is currently responsible for the convent. The registered owners of the 15-acre estate are DKSS Holdings Limited, who paid £3.9 million for it in 2021. Company documents show that they borrowed nearly the entire sum from a Luxembourg-registered company Creo 12 S.a.r.l. The accrued interest on the loan rose to more £1m before the lender appointed a firm of receivers Kroll Advisory Ltd to try to recover their money. Kroll told HIP: “After a previous attempt to sell failed, we engaged in protracted joint venture discussions with another party to bring forward the development as an alternative and, now that has ceased, we will revert to the original intention to market and sell the property.”

Kroll say they are in “almost daily” dialogue with HBC and the local police regarding safeguarding of the building. HBC say they are continuing to work closely with Historic England, the emergency services and other partners to take urgent action. They had identified a number of “priority steps” to secure the listed heritage buildings and reduce unauthorised access to the site.

Nonetheless within days of that statement being released, the Save The Convent pressure group (see page 8) released a video on social media of a person using a hammer to demolish window frames in the curtilage of the listed buildings. In June police made arrests following intelligence of plans for a ‘mass action’ at the site by users of Tik-Tok.

Around the same time, Hastings MP Helena Dollimore wrote to Kroll about the “many incidents of trespass” and demanded to know what the company was doing to secure the estate. Kroll told HIP they had sent a team to the convent “with a contractor to provide a price for the required works to protect the site and buildings”. They appear to accept that the lender – Creo 12 – can be required to “finance any works”.

Before taking enforcement action HBC are legally required to notify Kroll and/or Creo of the works required of them and to allow them a prior opportunity to undertake them.

Meanwhile, the Save the Convent group question whether anyone has any real incentive to prevent further deterioration of the buildings before dangerous structure notices are imposed. They fear that at a certain stage of dilapidation, demolition will be the only practicable option.

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 in England, Hastings & Rye MP Helena Dollimore has been campaigning to ensure maximum viewing access for her constituents.

Initial pleas for the eleventh century tapestry, which depicts events surrounding the Battle of Hastings, to be transported from its home in Bayeux, Normandy to the original site of the battle were swiftly trumped by concerns over security and insurance. It’s going to be retained under many a lock and key in the Museum in central London for the length of the loan – September this year to July next.

However, Ms Dollimore has persisted in talking up the claims of ‘1066 Country’ residents to priority viewing. In July 2025 she wrote, in conjunction with popular historian Dan Snow, to George Osborne, former Chancellor of the Exchequer and now Chairman of the Museum, requesting the reservation of free tickets for all school groups from Hastings and the surrounding area, and assistance with their costs of transport. She also asked Southeastern Railway (SER) to offer reduced fares.

When the Museum was slow to give a positive response, she secured a debate in the House of Commons in February to put her case. Ian Murray, Minister for Creative Industries, Media and Arts reported back to her that the Museum had given him an assurance of schools in her area receiving priority booking. 

And last week it was stated both by Ms Dollimore and by Hastings Borough Council that SER have agreed to fund 1,066 free train tickets to school parties visiting the Museum to view the Tapestry. These free fares are stated to be available through participating schools once the museum visit is booked.

But this number is surely only a small fraction of the aggregate of local schoolchildren likely to want (or be guided by their teachers to seek) a free trip to London for viewing purposes. Are the tickets to be offered on a first-come, first-served basis to alert school heads? Or are they to be means-tested or rationed in some other way?

Some might question whether Ms Dollimore has fully thought this through, as on HIP’s enquiry to her office it was suggested that SER be approached for their response. At the time of our going to press, they had not done so.

The offer of 1,066 free tickets could well, however, prove a lucrative earner for the railway company, if it stimulates a much larger demand beyond that number. A calculation from the group travel options advertised on the SER website suggests that the lowest off-peak day return from Hastings to Charing Cross for an adult plus eight children would be £99: multiply that by four for an average-size class, and that’s just under £400 a time.

But SER is in effect a nationalised business, supported by the taxpayer. Since it would be running the trains anyway, an offer of further free tickets on the same basis would not cost it anything. Ms Dollimore must surely be tempted to push her campaign a little further.

Although there’s no question of Tapestry coming to the south coast, Hastings Museum & Art Gallery will host a special loan of a British museum object, the Stothart Cast. This object features depictions of Harold Godwinson, William the Conqueror and a medieval knight. They were taken from wax impressions lifted from the Bayeux Tapestry in 1816.

At the same time, the Hastings Embroidery, created in 1966 to celebrate the 900th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings and telling the history of Britain over that 900-year period, is scheduled to be displayed in Hastings Town Hall.

Gunshots Lead to Crash Injuries

Four people were injured when their car crashed in Hastings during a police pursuit. The incident began after gunshots were reported in Sidley Green, Bexhill.

A black Nissan was chased by police before it was involved in a crash nearly eight miles away in Ivyhouse Lane, North Hastings.

The four people in the car sustained injuries, with one airlifted to hospital, where they were in a serious condition. Sussex Police said the driver of the vehicle, a 26-year-old man of no fixed address, was arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. The three passengers, a 21-year-old man from Bexhill, a 23-year-old man from Bexhill, and a 36-year-old man from St Leonards, were arrested on suspicion of affray. Later three other people were arrested, two on firearms offences and one on suspicion of assisting an offender.

People and Dog Rescued

Coastguards and lifeboats were called out after a group of four people and their dog were cut off and trapped by the tide beneath cliffs on the stretch of shore between Fairlight and Rock‑A‑Nore in Hastings.

The group, which was successfully helped to safety, was “wet, cold and tired,” according to their rescuers.

HM Coastguard said that teams from Hastings, Bexhill and Rye Bay, along with Hastings RNLI Lifeboat and Pett Level Independent Rescue Boat, were involved in the rescue operation.

Coastguard Cuts Condemned

Thousands of volunteer coastguards will no longer be paid for emergency call-outs according to the GMB Union. It follows what they describe as a ‘reprehensible’ move by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA).

The 3,500 volunteer Coastguard Rescue Officers (CROs) who carry out rescues around the British coast including Sussex, have always been given hourly remuneration for attending incidents and training exercises.  But a Court of Appeal case recently upheld a judgement classifying even volunteers as ‘workers’ when carrying out paid duties. As a result, the MCA removed the payments. A GMB official, Lynsay Mackay, said: “When someone is lost, injured or in danger on our coastline, nobody asks whether the person coming to help is a volunteer or a worker. If we want a strong, resilient Coastguard for the future, we must make sure that those who step forward are supported, not penalised.”

Arrests in Drugs Bust

A National Crime Agency (NCA) drugs investigation has led to the arrest of five people near Eastbourne Marina.

Witnesses reported a large number of officers boarding a boat at Sovereign Harbour. An NCA spokesperson said: “Five suspects are in custody, the arrests having been made on 8 June near Eastbourne Marina. The investigation is ongoing, and more details will be released in due course.”

Combating Modern Slavery

The charity Crimestoppers is launching a new campaign across Sussex urging people to spot signs of modern slavery and organised immigration crime, and to report concerns anonymously.

The campaign, with the message ‘Spot the signs. Stop the exploitation,’ shows how crime gangs operate in coastal areas, transport routes and local communities, putting vulnerable people at risk.

Annabelle Goodenough, South Central East Regional Manager of Crimestoppers, said: “Organised immigration crime and modern slavery are happening in communities across Sussex, often hidden in plain sight. The reality is that people are being exploited, moved and controlled by criminals who prioritise profit over human life.”

People are asked to report suspicious activities including small boats or equipment moved in secrecy, groups who appear frightened, lost or disoriented, passengers quickly moved into vehicles with few belongings, lorries parked in isolated or unusual locations, and drivers acting nervously or blocking access.

Lifeboat Crew Raise Crazy Money

Members of Hastings RNLI lifeboat crew have raised £190 for FSN, a Hastings-based charity that provides services and projects for children and young people affected by poverty, disadvantage, neglect and abuse.

Earlier in the month, boat and shore crew members, shop volunteers, guides and fundraisers paid to play crazy golf on Hastings’ famous seafront courses, with the proceeds all going to FSN. The competition was won by volunteer boat crew member Sam Glassett, with a score of 39.

Hastings lifeboat management group chair Paul Freathy, who also competed, said: “The annual crazy golf competition has become quite an event. It brings all the different areas of the lifeboat family in Hastings together, so it is a great team-building exercise. And we always choose a local charity to benefit. We are all members of the local community, and of course a charity ourselves, so we know how important the work of FSN is, and the value of public support.”

Crazy Golf King De-throned

A new champion has been crowned at the recent World Crazy Golf Championships in Hastings. It means that previous title holder Mark ‘The Force’ Chapman failed in his bid to be the first person ever to win the title six times in a row.

The new supremo, Rocky Bullin, beat Chapman by just one shot after getting a hole in one in the final round. Simon Tompkins, the tournament organiser from Hastings Adventure Golf, said it was nice to have a different champion. “I think Marc will definitely be back next year because I think he’s definitely got the sixth in him, but this year it’s Rocky’s year,” he told the BBC. More than 250 people competed in what has become one of Hastings’ most iconic sporting events.

Big Brother Watch

The Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne has welcomed the ‘positive impact’ of new AI road safety cameras being trialled in Sussex, ‘helping us tackle some of the most dangerous behaviours on our roads’.

In a period of just four weeks, the cameras are reported to have detected more than 2,200 offences at a single location – including 459 drivers using a mobile phone and 1,823 not wearing a seatbelt.

These are not minor issues, says Ms Bourne. “Failing to wear a seatbelt or using a mobile phone while driving are among the leading causes of serious injury and fatal collisions, and they put lives at risk every single day. This technology supports officers by identifying potential offences quickly and accurately, allowing police to focus their time where it matters most. Importantly, every image is reviewed by a person before any action is taken. While I welcome the use of innovative tools to strengthen enforcement, what really matters is changing behaviour,” she says. “Encouragingly, offences reduced week by week during the trial as awareness grew – showing that education and visibility do make a difference.”

Conservation campaigners have castigated Hastings Borough Council (HBC) for failing to protect the numerous heritage sites in the town. One said Hastings had a “sorry record of failing to care” for its built heritage, while another said they were allowing “wanton acts of destruction”.

The protests follow vandalism at the former convent in St Leonards and local conservationist Bob Hart’s discovery that a historic boundary stone had been removed during the re-development of Gensing Manor. The Italianate-style Villa was described by HBC’s conservation officer as a “positive contribution” to the local heritage in the area. It is currently being redeveloped into 17 residential units. The builders are said to have “widened the gates”, leading to the disappearance of the historic parish boundary marker stone.

Meanwhile HBC is accused of allowing the former Convent of the Holy Child Jesus to “crumble before our eyes” as vandals destroy the interior. The convent chapel was designed by Edward Pugin, son of the famous Gothic revivalist architect Augustus Pugin. It is a Grade II* listed building. HBC has been criticised for failing to issue a ‘repairs’ notice to the current building owners and for unreasonably delaying registering it as an Asset of Community Value.

Hastings has an astonishing number of Listed Buildings entries – 567 in all – encompassing 933 individual properties or features. An entry can sometimes include more than one property, as in Pelham Crescent. Some are humble sea-front shelters while the prized Grade I listing is Hastings Castle – or its remaining piles of stones.

Historic Importance

However the council’s ‘definitive’ list of important monuments and statues was drawn up in 2010 and does not appear to have been updated in the intervening 16 years.

Many parishes in Britain have proudly retained their marker stones – often dating back hundreds of years before maps were available to delineate ecclesiastical and civil parish limits. Historians say their importance is far greater than their relatively simple appearance.

Bob Hart has demanded to know what policies HBC has in place to safeguard historic assets such as the parish boundary marker stones. “The Old Hastings Preservation Society and the Hastings Local History group were reviving an ancient custom of beating the bounds on May 9” he said. “They were dismayed to find that parish stone MM36 had disappeared. These stones are part of the historic heritage of the town and should be included in any conditions for planning consent.”

Mr Hart complained to Hastings Councillor Mark Etherington, portfolio holder for Planning and Infrastructure, about the disappearance of the Gensing stone and questioned whether the Planning Department was failing to provide a ‘culture of care’ for historic assets including boundary markers.

Cllr Etherington said he regretted its removal but was powerless to intervene: “As the stone was not listed, and HBC has no record of the stone being noted as a non-designated heritage asset, Conservation does not believe that the removal of the stone constitutes a breach of heritage legislation …this boundary stone enjoyed no protection or listed status …the fate of that particular stone (was) left to the builder who originally led the contract.”

Mr Hart told HIP that the real fault lay with previous political parties controlling the council “not having a conservation management plan in force for its heritage structures’.

Holy Jesus

A group aiming to “Save the Convent’ now meets weekly in St Leonards to put pressure on the council to take action over the rapid deterioration of the Holy Child Jesus buildings. A group spokesperson told HIP “Some of us have been boarding up entrances, windows, and rooms to try to save them. These boards are promptly removed by the youths, and smashing begins again. I called the heritage crime officer because I witnessed tiles being removed from the East Wing back in November 2025 by professionals on scaffolding. I reported it to the council as a heritage crime. To date, nothing has happened about that.” Privately some in the group suspect the owners are deliberately allowing the buildings to be wrecked. However, identifying the actual owners is problematic. After the convent nuns relocated to Mayfield in the 1970s the site was operated as a summer language school until it was sold to private investors. In 2019 DKSS Holdings Ltd took over management but went into administration before restoration work could continue. It is currently believed to be owned by a firm of receivers and private property developers who do not publish contact details.

At the start of June, HBC issued a lengthy statement saying the council was working closely with Historic England and emergency services and other partners to take “urgent action” over the Convent. However, they continued: “The site is privately owned and the council is legally required to notify the site’s owners and receivers of the required works and allow them an opportunity to act before further formal action is taken. Officers are now working to finalise the detailed schedule of works … including potential barrier or hoarding options.”HBC made it clear that their overriding concern was the risk to life posed by entering the site, “but we are also clear that further avoidable damage to this important heritage asset must be limited wherever possible.”

Brisco’s Bath

Cash-starved local authorities are clearly in a bind when it comes to prioritising the maintenance of heritage sites over other issues, like homelessness. Nonetheless HBC stands accused of actively contributing to the neglect of the Roman Bath which it owns on the former Summerfield Estate in Bohemia. Although the bath is not Roman – nor indeed a bath – but rather a Victorian folly – it is a Grade 2 Listed structure. Built in the mid-nineteenth century, it comprises a semi-circular grotto with steps to either side leading to a viewing platform and a Romanesque arch with colonettes.

According to conservationist Bob Hart “For over twenty years Hastings Borough Council has failed to develop a management plan for this structure in their care. Without knowledge of any maintenance that is required,they erected metal fences on the structure without listed building consent in 2016 and most recently installed metal grids above the water and a metal fence within the arch and within the curtilage of the site a large wooden bridge.”

Historic England said that the introduction of the large, galvanised metal structures “causes a high level of harm to the significance of the listed Roman bath.” They said they understood the issues around safety to the public, however “a more sensitive and sympathetic way of protecting the baths … should have been explored”. That was five years ago, and since then the council appears to have taken no action, despite being the body charged with enforcing the conservation of listed structures within the borough.

Municipal Vandalism

Along with the Walled Garden and a listed Ice House, the Roman Bath is among the last remaining features of Summerfields – a grand early-19th century country estate in Bohemia built by Wastel Brisco. The centrepiece was the Jacobean style Bohemia Mansion. Hastings Borough Council bought the estate for just £170,000 in 1966 and, six years later, demolished the mansion to make space for what later became the Law Courts and Police station. It was, according to the late historian and conservationist Ion Castro “an orgy of the most incredible municipal vandalism”.

While HBC is currently active in trying to find a solution for the jewels in its crown – St Mary in the Castle and Pelham Crescent – conservationists argue that previous administrations have been guilty of sustained neglect of this and other items of the town’s heritage. The Albert Memorial clock-tower was torn down in 1973 with the connivance of the then council and, many years earlier, the magnificent Boundary Arch between Hastings and St Leonards was demolished in 1895.

Bob Hart points to a list of other council-owned heritage structures that need attention. They include two listed bus shelters on the East Parade and two shelters at Robertson Terrace. He says the listed drinking fountain at Gilsmans Hill “requires attention” and that although not listed, the Source Park/Ice Rink may need so much spent on it that it could be cheaper to close and fill in. The famous Bottle Alley was previously under threat from the council who wanted to demolish parts of it. “There are plenty of other examples of council negligence,” he argues, “the Priory Street Institute became a snooker club but was destroyed to create Priory Square behind the Post Office. Hastings Rail Station was demolished while Cllr Jeremy Birch was in control although Bexhill, Eastbourne, Rye, Ramsgate and Margate Stations survived.”

According to Heather Grief of the Hastings Local History group,even when the council commissions heritage surveys – such as the one carried out by former council official David Dine – they simply get buried: “What was the point of David Dine doing his survey if the local authority takes no notice of it, as is the case with HBC’s Planning Dept and Gensing Manor and its stone next to the gateway.” Heather Grief believes people are far more interested in their heritage than the council. “The one bright spot is the way in which individuals have managed to rescue stones from skips – this happened several times in Tower Road, when locals made the workmen put them back and ‘re-home’ them in their gardens at the nearest spot to their original location. Also, one lady somewhere in town thought ‘her’ boundary stone was a pet grave marker and topped it with a concrete cat!”

Bob Hart also believes that community involvement is vital and points to local ‘successes’ such as the preservation of the Alexandra Park Greenhouse and the Bohemia Walled garden. “But it shouldn’t be just up to community action”, he says. “The council and its conservation officer could – and should – be taking a much more proactive role in guarding Hastings’ historic heritage.”

HASTINGS HERITAGE LOST 

• Albert Memorial, town centre, 1863-1973
• Bohemia/Brisco Mansion 1818-1972
• Hastings Railway Station 1851-2004
• Priory Street Institute c1870-2012
• Art Deco Dorset Laundry Elphinstone Rd c1930-c2000
• St Leonards Bathing Pool 1933-1993
• St Leonards Archway 1828-1895
• St Paul’s Church
  St Leonards 1868-1964
• Central Cricket Ground 1864-1966

IN DANGER

• St Mary in the Castle
• Pelham Crescent 
• Roman Bath at
  Summerfields 
• Listed Bus Shelters at Swan Boat Lake and Hastings Contemporary
• Above-ground shelters, Roberson Terrace.
• Drinking fountain,
  Gilsmans Hill 
• The East Well at Rock A Nore
• Bottle Alley – not listed.
• Lion and Unicorn ‘Buckingham Palace’ statues Robertson Terrace
• The Source Park/Ice rink – cheaper to fill in?
• Hastings Pier – up for sale but lacking condition survey.

SAVED

• Alexandra Park Greenhouse   
• Bohemia Walled Garden  
• Bohemia Icehouse
• Observer Building

Council tax debts in the Hastings Borough Council area have seen a significant rise over the past five years. Thousands of people are being taken to court for failing to pay as more and more households fall behind on bills. New data from the council, in response to a Freedom of Information request, reveals a pattern of rising debt, increased enforcement, and growing pressures on household finances.

The number of actual council tax accounts has risen only slightly over the last five years, from 43,781 in 2021/22 to 44,567 in 2025/26, an increase of 1.8%. However, the number of households in arrears has grown at a far faster rate – nearly 16%. In 2021/22, 7,536 ‘accounts’ were behind on payments. By 2025/26, that figure had reached 8,733.

The total value of unpaid council tax has risen even more steeply. The council was owed £3.79 million in 2021/22, increasing to £4.69 million in 2024/25 and reaching £6.31m in 2025/26. This represents an increase of 35% compared with 2021/22. The council’s total budget is currently £17.5 million, of which £8.39 million comes from council tax. This means that almost half of that income – 42.8% – is, initially, unpaid.

Court Action and Liability Orders

To combat this shortfall, the council can take out Liability Orders in a Magistrates’ Court – legal action that enables the council to take debt recovery actions such as reducing money from benefit payments. The number of Liability Orders has also increased sharply. The council issued 4,588 orders in 2021/22, rising to 5,368 in 2024/25, a 17% increase.

The GMB union conducted a similar survey across the Southeast of England and found that a staggering 146,000 people were taken to court for Council Tax arrears last year. The union’s National Secretary, Rachel Harrison, described the figures as “horrifying.” She said they show that “our council tax system is completely broken.”

Court action to obtain Liability Orders costs the council money. HBC paid a total of £458,800 in 2021/22, rising to £536,800 in 2024/25, an increase over that period of £78,000.

The problem for the council seems to be that enforcement action isn’t working, with the amount of successfully recovered arrears falling sharply. The council collected £1.74 million in 2021/22, but only £1.26 million in 2024/25, a 27.6% decrease. This decline suggests that while more households are falling behind, fewer are able to pay off their debts, thus lowering the council’s tax base. Furthermore, the additional costs of collecting this tax reduce the amount HBC gains from doing so. As Rachel Harrison says, “forcing cash-strapped councils to pursue people through the courts can’t be the right way to do business”.

A brief statement from Hastings Borough Council said, “We are aware of the increasing cost of living, making it more difficult for households to cover their costs. We encourage anyone who is struggling to pay their council tax bills to contact us as soon as possible so we can discuss alternative options with them.”

In fact, the council is sending increasing numbers of arrears cases to enforcement agents – bailiffs – who are empowered to seize people’s possessions to pay debts. In 2021/22, 3,346 cases were referred to agents, rising to 3,513 in 2025/26, an increase of 5%. The total amount of debt associated with these enforcement cases remains consistently high – between £3million and £4million from 2022/23 to 2025/26. But while the council is reliant on enforcement agents to recover large sums of money, around half of it is not being collected. Once the costs of enforcement orders and agents’ fees are considered, the council is unlikely to be recovering much of its losses. The HBC statement said there was a council tax reduction scheme for eligible households, and people contacting them could also get details of any other benefits or discounts they might be entitled to. “We can also refer residents for debt advice,” they said, but did not offer any comment on the increasing number of people they were taking to court or handing over to the bailiffs to deal with.

Growing Financial Challenge

The figures paint a picture of a borough where more households are struggling to keep up with council tax payments, indicating how the cost of living may be putting debt pressures on many households in the town. With arrears rising faster than the council can recover them, Hastings faces a mounting challenge to collect its expected tax base. Its inability to do so will likely limit funding for services.

The GMB union said that the Council Tax banding system was ‘woefully out of date’ and that funding and reform was urgently needed from the government along with changes to business rates so authorities keep more of the revenue they raise. Hastings’ MP Helena Dollimore told HIP that the Government was acting, and vulnerable people will be given more support and double the length of time to settle outstanding council tax bills, and that councils will be required to work with them on sustainable repayment plans.

The fire brigade received a call at just after 7.30 in the evening and attended with two fire appliances, an aerial ladder platform and two special appliances. They spent just over two hours at the scene.

A number of residents were evacuated from the house, but, according to the fire service, were all accounted for, and no casualties or injuries were reported. However the road was closed, parked vehicles removed and the gas supply to a neighbouring property isolated.

A spokesperson for Hastings Borough Council (HBC) said: “The property is privately owned, and responsibility for its condition sits with the owner. The council’s role is to ensure appropriate action is taken where necessary to protect public safety and to support affected residents.” HBC is continuing to coordinate support for the displaced residents and provided emergency temporary accommodation on the night of the incident.

The spokesperson confirmed that the cause of the roof collapse is not currently known and will be subject to the appropriate structural and building control assessment through the building control officer at Wealden District Council, who is responsible for handling dangerous structures across the county. The owner of the property has informed the council that a structural engineer will be called in to assess the site.

While there is no suggestion of any negligence or fault on behalf of the owner of the Ashburnham Road property, local builders point to the importance of roof ties on similar houses in the area and strongly advise against cutting through them during DIY attic conversions.

The erection of a new memorial to the 46 nuns whose bodies were exhumed from the centre of a St Leonards Housing estate has been criticised over lack of consultation with locals and relatives.

As HIP reported last year, the Mother Agnes Trust which owned the nun’s graveyard, was roundly castigated for its decision to dig up the bodies after it claimed badgers had disturbed the graves in the grounds of the former Holmhurst St Mary convent school.

One former pupil, Dame Joanna Lumley writing exclusively in HIP, said that she was ‘shocked’ to hear that the graveyard had been destroyed, and she felt the exhumations had been conducted ‘furtively and swiftly and irrevocably’ without any consultation with the nuns’ living relatives or with the old girls’ association from the Convent.

Now a memorial has appeared without any notice. Sally Cole, a former convent pupil still living in Hastings said: “I am very disappointed that the Old Girls Association and relatives of the sisters were not given an opportunity to discuss the memorial. After all the upset their actions caused I think it was the least they [the trust] could do”.

The Revd Canon Dr Rob Marshall, a spokesman for the Trust, said “We can confirm that the new memorial to the Sisters of St Mary’s Holmhurst was commissioned by the Mother Agnes Trust. It was made by local firm EB sculpture and we are in ongoing discussions with a local parish to oversee the upkeep of the memorial which we regard as important.” He did not address the question of lack of consultation with relatives or pupils and would not disclose how much the memorial cost.

Local archivist and activist Bob Hart, whose freedom of information request first disclosed that the exhumations had taken place without notice or warning, said he was surprised there was no announcement or service when the new memorial was erected. He felt that the stone monument to the nuns was ‘acceptable’ but said “I personally consider that the simple crosses were a better memory of who was laid to rest.”  And he remains critical of Hastings Borough Council’s role in allowing and overseeing the original exhumations.

The nun’s graveyard was in the middle of an extensive Southern Housing building site. Much of the development land is understood to have been sold to them by the Mother Agnes Trust, although the graveyard plot was retained by the church charity.

There was considerable criticism of the original decision to carry out the exhumations, with wildlife groups arguing that the badgers could and should have been given exit routes and that it would have been possible to have protected the graves from them. 

In with the New

Hastings Borough Council has announced the make-up of its new administration following the May elections in which the Green Party won an overall majority.

Glenn Haffenden remains leader of the council with Julia Hilton as deputy leader. Paula Warne was named Mayor of Hastings, with Amanda Jobson as deputy. Other cabinet posts went to councillors Darren Mackenzie, Mark Etherington, Jo Walker, Becca Horn, Solly Solamito and Clem McCulloch.

Former Labour council leader Peter Chowney welcomed the changes: “Glenn seems to have gone for stability, creating a couple of additional cabinet posts. The Green leadership was a bit overcautious at first I thought, but they got more confident as they gained experience. Recent changes in the senior officer structure should help them too. It is, of course, supposed to be fairly short-lived with HBC set to be abolished, but if we get a new Prime Minister, who knows?”

All existing district, borough, and county councils in Sussex are scheduled to be replaced by new unitary authorities in April 2028.

Ban the Beads

A petition with more than 10,000 signatures has been presented to Parliament calling for plastic beads to be banned by water companies. The move follows millions of the ‘bio beads’ being released from Southern Water’s Eastbourne Wastewater Treatment Plant last Autumn, and polluting Camber Sands, Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, and other Southern coastal areas.

Hastings MP Helena Dollimore who presented the petition to 10 Downing Street said “We are saying to Southern Water and all the water companies that are using these plastic beads — think again. Better, more modern technology exists … this catastrophe has shown us the risk that it poses to our environment.”

Henri Brocklebank Director of Conservation at Sussex Wildlife Trust said: “There is only one way to guarantee that we never have a spill of bio-beads again. That is to stop our wastewater treatment works from using them.  They are an old and redundant technology, and we must see their use ended swiftly.”

Petitions need more than 100,000 signatures to ensure a parliamentary debate is considered.

Slow Readers

An overdue library book has finally been returned to East Sussex Council after 43 years. The Potter’s Book of Glaze Recipes by Emmanuel Cooper has been handed in to the library having been originally due back in June 1983. It’s part of the Library Service’s annual amnesty, without which a fine of £3,923.75 would have been due if the current rate of 25p per day had been levied.

Nick Skelton, East Sussex County Council’s Assistant Director of Communities said: “Since the amnesty began on Monday, February 16, a total of 22,160 overdue loans and 683 lost books have been returned or renewed. It is great to have these titles back on library shelves and available once again.”

The majority of overdue loans (65%) were in junior fiction at the start of this year’s amnesty and Hastings and Eastbourne libraries had a combined total of 13,454 overdue books. The longest overdue item ever returned was missing from bookshelves for 48 years. Havelok The Warrior by Ian Serraillier, which was taken out from Hastings Library, should have been returned in April 1975, but was only brought back in 2023.

Keep Young and Beautiful

Hastings Borough Council says it has unveiled a £700,000 grants scheme to help community groups, sports clubs, charities and CICs upgrade facilities for leisure and physical activity.

The two-year funding programme offers three tiers of grant support: Small Grants (£2,000–£10,000), Medium Grants (£10,000–£75,000) and Major Grants (£75,000–£150,000) for ‘transformative’ projects. The grant funding can be used for capital improvements including building repairs, sports area upgrades, accessibility enhancements and permanent equipment. Applications for essential specialist equipment may also be considered.

Council leader Cllr Glenn Haffenden said: “There are huge benefits to being active, not only physically but also for mental health and making community links. I’m passionate about making sure the whole borough has access to these opportunities.” The first round of funding closes on Sunday 12 July. However, with multiple funding rounds planned over the two-year programme, organisations will have ample time to develop strong proposals and apply when they are ready.

For more information visit: hastings.gov.uk/sport_play/leisure-grants-programme

Letter

Streets of HASTINGS

Dear HIP

As a visitor from western Canada, I am surprised at the poor condition of the streets and roads in St Leonards and Hastings (and other parts of East Sussex).

Huge potholes too numerous to count, massive cracks in the pavement, and small patches on top of patches, when a whole street should be re-paved.

Does your city or regional council not think infrastructure is a core function of running a municipality? What’s gone wrong? According to friends I visit here, you seem to pay similar taxes to those I pay in Canada. I live in a city with a population of approx. 96,000, so I think that’s a fair comparison to Hastings/St Leonards. However, the condition of your streets and roads are on a par with developing world countries.

Concerned regards,

Fraser Lee

Letter

Fundamentally Flawed Parking

Dear Hip. 

Are the proposed new residents parking permits a benefit or a liability?

In the last issue (22nd May) Paul Mclaughlin wrote that many traders blame the cost of seaside parking as one of the main causes of a decline in visitor numbers.

I have written to the council formally objecting to the new residents’ parking scheme which appears fundamentally flawed, financially punitive to residents, and poorly targeted at the actual parking pressures experienced in this area.

For many UK towns and cities, residential parking permits have brought genuine benefits – especially in areas overwhelmed by commuter parking or heavy daytime visitor traffic. But in seaside towns like St Leonards and Hastings the picture is far more complicated. Places built around theatres, pubs, restaurants, tourism and narrow Victorian streets often face different parking pressures, particularly in the evenings when many permit restrictions no longer apply.

The experience across Britain suggests that permit schemes work best where the problem is clearly daytime commuter parking – but in mixed leisure and seaside economies like St Leonards and Hastings, the results are often far more controversial and divisive.

Schemes can simply shift parking into neighbouring roads, reduce visitor numbers, damage independent businesses and leave residents paying annual fees without any guarantee of finding a space.

I believe that in the wrong place, like Hastings and St Leonards, Residents Parking Permits can become the first step to a decline in visitor numbers and closure for local business.

Please object! it is easy and if you don’t, they will claim people didn’t care enough:

consultation.eastsussex.gov.uk/economy-transport-environment/hastings-newpermitzones-2026/

Nick Bloomfield

Letter

Lucrative but Disappointing Odyssey

Dear HIP.

I was astonished that the public was charged to view the show Odyssey at The Hastings Contemporary – most open-submission shows do not charge an admission fee. Nor did the Contemporary need to as this much-anticipated exhibition attracted more than 2,500 entries and so probably amassed more than £50,000 in entry fees alone.

But what will happen to this money? Will it, as I hope, be allocated to subsidise Hastings’ arts or will it ’go west’ into Sussex Contemporary Ltd? This type of money generation is desperately needed for arts programmes, events and workshops in the town. Perhaps the Hastings Contemporary should strike out on its own and represent the incredible number of high-quality, acclaimed artists and musicians that live here, a resource that Hastings consistently fails to recognise.

I do realise this show was open to all in Sussex. Yet, Hastings Contemporary needs to identify more strongly with its talented arts community, as many of the shows in this gallery have imported a “big name” that has a tenuous “connection” with Hastings but perhaps has a connection with the curator?

Personally, I thought the Odyssey exhibition was disappointing. There was some good work on show, but a majority of the works felt thin and decorative, and adherence to the Odyssey theme was tentative, if not dubious. Furthermore, I felt the judging panel was too female-dominated (6 women and 1 male media personality), which seemed to result in around 70% of the works on show being made by women.

I take on board that women have been historically underrepresented in visual art, and in recent years this has continued to be addressed. Yet, I left the show feeling that as a male I had been the victim of some sort of inverted sexism, I guess a feeling most female artists are very familiar with!

As you may have gathered I am a male art reject.

Yours faithfully,

Sour grapes

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