Archives for News - Page 14
Plan Ducks Priority Issues
CHARMIAN KENNER The ESCC Local Transport Plan contains a pretty comprehensive list of nice outcomes it would be hard to disagree with. But how is it going to be implemented?…
My Art Belongs to Daddy
Hastings resident Phil Cooper watched a live TV stream of the Grammy Awards, the US music equivalent of the Oscars, with personal interest last week. His daughter Em Cooper was…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
from our website Jess Steele: Questions to be asked Is your article Jess Steele, Community Entrepreneur in HIP 244 what passes for fearless, independent journalism then? Not for the first…
£3M REQUIRED TO COMPLETE ROAD, SAY SEA CHANGE
But County Council Still ‘Looking’ for Funding Hugh Sullivan At a meeting of the full East Sussex County Council on 6 February, a member of the public, Bernard Brown, raised…
Local Transport Plan for County
MARK SULLIVAN A new Local Transport Plan (LTP), issued in January by East Sussex County Council (ESCC) and currently up for public consultation, proclaims five aims: enable safer and more…
Beach Hut Tenants Rebel
MARISA McGREEVY ROSE A group of tenants of the beach huts at West Marina are demanding that Hastings Borough Council (HBC), their landlord, schedule a full programme of maintenance to…
Controversy over Council Cabinet – Carr Quits
On Monday (29 January) new Hastings Borough Council leader Julia Hilton presided over her first cabinet meeting since being voted in by the full council a fortnight ago. As reported…
Cornwallis Street Hotel Sale Set for Approval
The controversial hotel development on the site of the former car park at Cornwallis Street is set to proceed after a renegotiation of terms between the land owners Hastings Borough…
Independents Party Launch
PAUL McLAUGHLIN The newly formed Hastings Independents Party celebrated the launch of its breakaway political venture with 40-50 people crammed into Mike’s Bar in Norman Road, St Leonards last Friday…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Letter Housing, Not Amusements Dear HIP With reference to Year of Shutdown for Owens Refurbishment (HIP 241), what Hastings needs is housing, not a huge indoor games complex. How many…
Jess Steele, Community Entrepreneur
HUGH SULLIVAN In an era of squeezed public finances, soaring construction costs and wasting infrastructure, the renovation of buildings around Cambridge Road by the Hastings Commons (HC) group of trusts…
What to do with Dorothy
PAUL McLAUGHLIN A campaign to save the historic fishing boat which greets visitors to Hastings as they exit the railway station has divided local opinion. The RX53 Dorothy Melinda is…
MIXED RECEPTION FOR TOWN CENTRE RE-DESIGN
HUGH SULLIVAN A preliminary re-design of Hastings Town Centre was unveiled at a Town Deal Board meeting last week, then presented in the central hub of Priory Meadow shopping centre…
What’s to be Done About Housing?
HUGH SULLIVAN The economics of the housing crisis in Hastings are easy to summarise: too much demand, not enough supply. The result: a rise in house prices, currently curtailed by…
Housing Rebellion in Hastings
Writer Grace Lally is a member of Housing Rebellion, a direct action group of housing and climate activists We are told – across the nation but particularly in Hastings -…
Staying in the Borough
Town sports clubs’ move to Claremont School “won’t proceed” Hugh Sullivan The plan to relocate the town’s prime cricket and hockey clubs from Horntye Park to Claremont School appears to…
Facing the Financial Facts
PETER FINCH, Chairman of Horntye Park Management Company which acts as sole Trustee of Hastings and Rother Sports Trust, explains how sale of the cricket arena at Horntye will benefit…
Holocaust Memorial: My Mother’s Story
DAVID TASKER Saturday 27 January is International Holocaust Memorial Day. I am putting together a commemoration service at the White Rock Theatre in Hastings. The centrepiece of the service will…
Long Waits For NHS Patients in East Sussex
The proportion of patients having to wait more than four hours in A&E departments in both the Conquest Hospital in Hastings and Eastbourne District General Hospital before being treated has…
BARNETT’S BLUE MONDAY TURNS GREEN
HUGH SULLIVAN and PAUL McLAUGHLIN The third Monday of January has come to be coined as Blue Monday – the most depressing day of the year in the UK measured…
Deal Revealed
The Hastings Town Deal team will be hosting an open day at Priory Meadow shopping centre on Saturday 27 January to provide residents, businesses and visitors with updates on the…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Letter Voiceless over Gaza Dear HIP Guy Harris wrote in HIP 240 wondering whether he is “the only constituent currently wondering where Cllr. Dollimore stands on the very pressing issue…
Labour Pulled Apart
Rebel Group Quit Party But Still Lead Council HUGH SULLIVAN On 13 December a full meeting of Hastings Borough Council approved budget proposals for 2024-25 aimed at saving around £4m,…
Arts Funding Snakes & Ladders
POLLY GIFFORD The hugely disappointing news that Hastings Fat Tuesday Festival didn’t get its funding from Arts Council England (ACE) for 2024 highlights one of the long running problems with…
Fat Tuesday Crowdfunder
Following the rejection by Arts Council England of their funding application for the 2024 festival reported in HIP 240, Hastings Fat Tuesday set up a crowdfunder. It’s aimed at raising…
Year of Shutdown for Owens ‘Refurbishment’
The company which owns the OWENS Entertainment Centre in the former Debenhams store in Robertson Street has announced it will “start full development” of the premises in the new year.…
Fernando to stand for Parliament
Lucian Fernando, borough councillor for Silverhill, who left the Conservative party earlier this year and joined Reform UK, has announced that he has been selected as official parliamentary candidate for…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Letter Shingles protection Dear HIP I would like to clarify the connection between chickenpox and shingles (Chickenpox Parties in HIP 240). Shingles occurs in people who have previously been exposed…
Christmas Cheer
Naz Montag Hastings Borough Council resolved earlier this year that in its current financial predicament it could not afford to fund the provision of any Christmas trees in the town.…
‘BUDGET FOR HOPE’, SAYS COUNCIL LEADER
But higher charges and reduced services are on the way HUGH SULLIVAN Hastings Borough Council was due to meet in full session on Wednesday of this week (13 December) with one…
West Hill Café and St Mary in the Castle – ‘Partners’ Sought
A call by Hastings Borough Council (HBC) for “experienced developers and operators” to put forward ideas and proposals “to restore the West Hill Café to its full potential” as part…
Benjamin Calling
CAF FEAN Sara Lou Bowrey courtesy of 18 Hours A phone call with Benjamin Zephaniah was a performance in and of itself. Hello? Is that Caf? This is Benjamin Zephaniah.…
Council Presses for Investigation Into Conduct of Pier Company
HUGH SULLIVAN Lions Hastings Pier Limited, the company which was managing the pier for its owner Sheikh Abid Gulzar, was put into voluntary liquidation in August this year. Its debts…
The Life and Times of a Company Director
Sheikh Abid Gulzar, now aged 78, is no stranger to legal controversy in the conduct of his several hotel and pier companies, all of which he operates as sole director.…
Council Anger: “They Have Trashed our Town”
PAUL McLAUGHLIN Trust in Southern Water amongst Hastings Borough Councillors has plunged to a new low in the wake of last month’s town centre flooding. At a simmering meeting of…
No Flood Damage Assistance from Government?
The Government’s Flood Recovery Framework gives power to DLUHC (the Department of Levelling Up. Communities and Housing) to allocate grants and business relief to residents and business owners impacted by…
No Renationalisation: Labour Shadow Minister Explains Why
This anger and frustration was shared by the Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Steve Reed MP, who paid a visit to Hastings and Rye last Thursday…
Councillors Address Safety Issues
PAUL McLAUGHLIN Last Wednesday (22 November), a full meeting of Hastings Borough councillors at Muriel Matters House discussed issues of violence, stab injuries and late night raves. White Ribbon Day …
Gaza Campaigners Target Hastings Arms Manufacturer
Around 25 demonstrators held a rally and march last Thursday outside the offices of General Dynamics on the Castleham estate in St Leonards. The firm is one of the US…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Letter Drainage History Dear HIP Picking up on Martin Griffiths’ letter regarding the town centre flooding (HIP 239), I think we all need to be told of the usefulness or…