Archives for News - Page 10
More Delays on Road to Nowhere
East Sussex County Council (ESCC) has been told to explain to Hastings residents why completion of the A21 Queensway link has been so long delayed and when it will be…
Home Office Set to Release Northeye Site
HUGH SULLIVAN A senior civil servant at the Home Office confirmed last week that the former prison premises of Northeye on the outskirts of Bexhill are no longer being considered…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
From our website Recycling Scheme Booking ‘Bonkers’ Bonkers. This will encourage fly tipping. Also – I parked outside (perfectly legal – no lines there) and walked in with two sheets…
Hastings Housing Crisis: No Room at the Inn
PAUL MCLAUGHLIN We all know there is a massive housing and homelessness crisis in Hastings. The growing visibility of rough sleepers on our streets, the simmering anger about the condition…
Government Acts over Hastings Schools Funding
ERIN WARD The Government has committed to abolishing the current Academy Schools’ funding model following the intervention of local MP Helena Dollimore in the House of Commons on 9 ;…
Reform Politician Sidelined
PAUL McLAUGHLIN The former Hastings Borough Councillor, Lucian Fernando, claims he has been sacked by Southeastern railway because of his political views. Mr Fernando, who represented the Silverhill ward for…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Letter Housing for Locals Dear HIP No matter how many new houses are built or where they are situated, this will do nothing to alleviate the local housing shortage unless…
NEWS IN BRIEF
Change at the top Hastings Borough Council has appointed an interim Chief Executive on a part-time job-share basis. Robert Cottrill will share the role with Lewes District and Eastbourne Borough…
Hastings Gets Baton of Hope
CHRIS CONNELLEY Established by former broadcast journalist Mike McCarthy in response to the suicide of his son, Ross, Baton of Hope (BofH) is a charity and campaign group that aims…
County Cuts Cost Hastings
PAUL McLAUGHLIN Hastings could be left to ‘pick up the pieces’ from the County’s massive Social Services budget cuts, according to Borough Council leader Julia Hilton. East Sussex County Council…
Recycling Scheme Booking ‘Bonkers’
KENT BARKER HIP Readers have condemned Council proposals to introduce a booking system at recycling sites. Dave Young East Sussex County Council is considering introducing a booking system for its…
As You Were at Azur
HUGH SULLIVAN Repair works “remain under way” at the Azur Marina Pavilion, according to head lessee Sea Change Sussex. Drainage problems are said to have been largely resolved through repairs…
Southern Water Plans for Hastings Evoke Sceptical Response
PAUL MCLAUGHLIN In the week when Southern Water unveiled “ambitious, multi-million pound investment plans” to upgrade water infrastructure and quality across Hastings, Moody’s, the global rating agency, downgraded the privatised…
Season of Awards
King’s Award It has been announced from Buckingham Palace that the Friends of Rye Harbour Nature Reserve have been honoured with a King’s Award for Voluntary Service. K T BruceTrustees…
Community Assembly on Housing And Green Spaces
CHARMIAN KENNER Standing Up For Nature (SU4N) Hastings & Rother, a network of local nature groups, is holding a Community Assembly on How Can Hastings Housing Policy Protect the Environment?…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Letter Nuclear Waste from Dungeness Dear HIP I write in response to your lead story in HIP 264 New Nuclear for Dungeness? In my food business career I have had…
Skates Off!
Ice Rink and Markets Pulled from Pier as Leaseholders Depart HUGH SULLIVAN An ice skating rink and “covered and heated” Christmas markets, which were due to be opened today (Friday) on…
Home Office Slated Over Northeye Purchase
HUGH SULLIVAN A year ago we reported (in HIP 239: £9m Private Profit Revealed) that when the Home Office bought the former prison site of Northeye on the edge of…
Budgeting for Broken Public Services
PAUL McLAUGHLIN analyses how the budget will affect the people of Hastings and tries to garner local political reaction Local Labour MP Helena Dollimore has welcomed the Chancellor’s plans to…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Letter Not Council’s Responsibility Dear HIP Your article in HIP 263 A Landslide for Local Democracy? about the Old Roar Gill makes no sense. If, as you say, the land…
Housing Targets Row
PAUL McLAUGHLIN The simmering row between the Green-led council and the local Labour MP resurfaced this week after Hastings Borough Council (HBC) formally responded to the Government’s plans to change…
NEWS IN BRIEF
Council Hacked Hastings Borough Council has been hit by a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack resulting in its website becoming unavailable for a day. Deputy Leader of Hastings Borough…
New Nuclear for Dungeness?
KAYLA POWER AND KENT BARKER Nuclear power generation could restart at Dungeness under plans being considered by the new Labour government. Both the outgoing MP for Folkestone and Hythe, Damian…
Privilege to Serve
PAUL MCLAUGHLIN The Labour Government has held power for just over 100 days, experiencing a remarkable rollercoaster of highs and lows as new ministers navigate the intense scrutiny of a…
A landslide for local democracy?
Residents’ perspectives on the Old Roar Gill landslip DR RALITSA HITEVA Last Wednesday evening (16 October), residents affected by the landslide at the Old Roar Gill (ORG) in February gathered…
Adult Social Care is not a Luxury
PAUL MCLAUGHLIN The Leader of East Sussex County Council (ESCC) has issued a stark warning to local residents to expect some deeply unpopular cuts to adult social care services next…
Town Deal boost for Hastings Commons
PAUL MCLAUGHLIN Hastings BC has awarded the £1m Towns Fund grant for the Town Living Project funding to Hastings Commons, to support the delivery of 12 affordable, sustainable and energy…
Good News in Brief
24-Hour parking returns at Priory Meadow The car park at Priory Meadow Shopping Centre has returned to 24-hour opening. The 1066 space car park in Hastings town centre has been…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Letter Asbestos in Broomgrove Dear HIP How very welcome the paediatric service will be to Broomgrove (Paediatric GP Service for Broomgrove in HIP 261), if only two days weekly. We’ve…
Protesting and Picketing
ROD WEBB Early on Wednesday morning, 16 October, peace activists picketed the entrance to the site of weapons manufacturer General Dynamics in Sidney Little Road to protest the latest Israeli…
Dine & Dash Heroes
PAUL MCLAUGHLIN Diners at the popular La Bella Vista restaurant in Grand Parade, St Leonards, last Saturday evening (12 October) witnessed a violent attack which resulted in extensive damage to…
Owens Directors’ £4m loss
HUGH SULLIVAN Draft accounts of CFEC Ltd, the company which developed the Owens entertainment centre in the former Debenhams building in Robertson Street in 2022 and which filed for insolvency…
CPRE Sussex Lambasts Government Housing Targets
The Sussex branch of the CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England) issued a strongly worded press release in early September warning against the housing targets mandated by the new Labour…
More Pier News
Gulzar Goes For Gold Sheikh Abid Gulzar, owner of Hastings Pier, has applied for listed building consent and planning permission to erect a new pavilion building on its eastern (lefthand)…
Eggtooth Set To Lose GP Referrals
The Eggtooth Project, which has taken mental health referrals from local GPs over the past three years, has had its NHS funding withdrawn since 27 September. Eggtooth premises at the…
NEWS IN BRIEF
Too Many Learners on Ashford Way Residents of Ashford Way and Ashford Road in St Helens are pressing the town’s driving instructors to take their pupils elsewhere when they’re practising…
Fat Tuesday to return ‘in full form’
Organisers of the Hastings Fat Tuesday (HFT) music festival in February/March next year have announced that it will return “in its full form” following a depleted programme in 2024. There…
Pier Events Prompt Council ‘Investigation’
Newcomers to Hastings Pier, Rum Shed, have been advertising a programme of electronic music to be staged this autumn and winter in the three-room, two-storey wooden reception building in the…
Council Launches Housing Strategy Consultation
PAUL McLAUGHLIN Hastings Borough Council (HBC) has launched a public consultation as part of its plans to develop a new housing strategy for the town. At a well-attended launch in…
Market Forces
Aldi versus Jempson in Competition for Rye Shoppers HUGH SULLIVAN The only supermarket of any size currently trading in Rye is Jempsons, opposite the railway station. Operating in tandem with…