Archives for News - Page 18
Safety Measures in the Park – not welcomed by all
In 2020 Kay Early was brutally attacked by a man in Alexandra Park while walking her dog, suffering severe injuries. The attack happened in broad daylight, and there were many…
They Can’t Have No Education
Hastings Academy expels 11 pupils after protest “disturbance” HUGH SULLIVAN Eleven pupils at the Hastings Academy have been “permanently excluded” from the school following their involvement in a protest demonstration…
Proposed development at Normanhurst
An application for outline planning permission has been lodged with Rother District Council for the development of up to 211 holiday lodges and 350 car parking spaces at the Normanhurst…
‘Doom and Gloom’ for sale
Popular St Leonards pub, The Horse and Groom, known locally by the affectionate sobriquet of ‘the Doom and Gloom’, has been put up for sale following the death of former…
Azur update
Azur Events Limited, the leasehold owner of the Azur Marina Pavilion, survived an initial winding up hearing in the High Court in London on 1 March. Landlords Sea Change Sussex…
Teachers make their own protest
PAUL McLAUGHLIN Last Thursday, 48 hours after the pupil protest of 28 February, the Hastings Academy was closed for the day to some or all year-groups when teachers staged a…
United Club Kept Waiting on Relocation Plan
HUGH SULLIVAN On 15 December a full meeting of Hastings Borough Council approved a motion – without any debate and on a vote of 29 councillors to one – to…
Save Our Local Fire Services
by PAUL MCLAUGHLIN Helena Dollimore, Labour’s prospective parliamentary candidate for Hastings and Rye, has launched a campaign to fight plans by the East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service (ESFRS) to…
Exclusions and Appeals
The University of Brighton Academies Trust, which is the governing body of the Hastings Academy, sets out its exclusion policy on its website as follows: “Where the academy’s approaches towards…
CORRECTION
In our article Council Tax hikes, budget approved on page 4 of HIP 220 we stated that the Hastings Contemporary gallery had not secured future funding from Arts Council England…
Letters Issue 221
We would love to hear from write to: Please be aware we may need to edit letters for reasons of space and we will only withhold names if this is…
Funding for Alternative Cycle Route?
Active Travel England, whose permanent Commissioner is former Olympic gold medal cyclist Chris Boardman, announced last month that they have received a £200m grant from central government to promote walking,…
Developers come back for more
Developers Park Lane Homes have already started construction work on the building of 67 new dwellings on land east of 777 The Ridge, following their success at a planning appeal…
Council Tax hikes, budgets approved
by PAUL MCLAUGHLIN Hastings Borough Council (HBC) agreed to raise the local council tax by the maximum amount allowed without holding a local referendum at a fiery meeting of the…
No Asylum Accommodation at Pontins
Following the report in HIP 219 of hotels in Hastings being used as asylum hostels, it has emerged that the Home Office approached Rother District Council and East Sussex County…
What’s on Your Mind?
We would love to hear from write to: Please be aware we may need to edit letters for reasons of space and we will only withhold names if this is…
Azur Time Goes By: A Financial History
In 2004 the Marina Pavilion, then a sun lounge and café on the lower promenade of St Leonards seafront opposite the Royal Victoria Hotel, had been abandoned by previous owners…
Azur Company Faces Winding-Up Order (Again)
by HUGH SULLIVAN The future of the Azur Marina Pavilion on St Leonards seafront will be at stake next Wednesday 1 March in the High Court in London. The company…
Losing Hart?
BY HUGH SULLIVAN AND PAUL MCLAUGHLIN The political insider website Guido Fawkes reported last Sunday that the executive of the Hastings & Rye Conservative Association has voted not to re-adopt…
St Mary: Community groups lodge “expression of interest”
A community “consortium” promoted by Hastings Commons and Hastings Creatives has lodged a formal “expression of interest” in response to the intended disposal of arts venue St Mary-in-the-Castle by owners…
Clearsprings awash with profit
In 2019 the Home Office awarded six regional contracts across the UK for a ten-year period to provide accommodation, support and transport services for asylum seekers pending decisions on their…
Bulverhythe Sewage Clean-up
BY SUSAN MCFIE AND KENT BARKER Days after a mains pipe burst in Bulverhythe, flooding local homes with sewage, Southern Water were still involved in a massive clear-up operation. Dozens…
SAVE THE CHILDREN!
Refugee aid group highlights safeguarding failures BY HUGH SULLIVAN On 24 January the UK Parliament debated allegations published in the national Observer newspaper the previous weekend that dozens of unaccompanied…
Letters: HIP Issue 218
Extraordinary Dear HIP, Thank you for the article An extraordinary life in HIP 214. So lovely to read and keep as a record. I have known Peter D’Arcy Champney for…
Best of Us
By Rosie Brocklehurst I wanted to let local people know about the extremely positive experiences I have had with members of the RMT, ASLEF and RCN nurses. I am a…
Swimming Against the Tide
By Paul McLaughin The Government decision to slash the funding of its Energy Bill Relief Scheme (ERBS), designed to help businesses with spiralling energy costs, is going to cause severe…
St Mary in the Community
Creatives call halt to disposal, seek link to castle. Under an initiative co-ordinated on behalf of Hastings Creatives group by Glenys Jacques, trustee of Barefoot Opera and long-time collaborator on…
Pickets at the Conquest
By Paul McLaughlin Nurses from the Conquest Hospital in Hastings joined with their colleagues in 55 NHS trusts across England last Wednesday (18 January) to strike as part of the…
ENGULFED!
But what caused Town Centre flooding? There was a clear natural cause of the flood which engulfed Priory Meadow, South Terrace and other parts of the town centre, as well…
Low, Wet and Handsome No Longer
Handsome Bicycles, which has sold and repaired bikes from its premises in Harold Place since 2012, has announced its permanent closure in the aftermath of the flood. Manager Harry Wiseman…
Fire at George Street Site Due For Demolition
A major fire broke out in the Old Town on the evening of Wednesday 18 January in a building due for demolition, part of which is Grade-II listed. Saturdays burnt-out.…
Sex & the Census
The Office for National Statistics last week revealed the results of its survey of sexual orientation among respondents (over the age of 16) to the national census of 2021. The…
Council Plans to Buy Housing for Homeless
By Paul McLaughlin Hastings Borough Council (HBC) has unveiled an ambitious £11 million plan to buy up to 50 properties to provide temporary housing for local residents who need somewhere…
Put St Mary back in the Castle!
Commercial land agents Dyer & Hobbis are continuing to market former church-turned-arts-venue St Mary in the Castle for outright sale or lease on behalf of Hastings Borough Council. However, local…
Vendetta Ends in Lengthy Prison Sentences for Hastings Duo
By Ethan MacDonald Two Hastings locals conducted a campaign of offences between June 2021 and January 2022. Over the course of their spree, the men smashed windows, vandalised houses and…
Team Effort Rescues Trapped Dolphin
Three women from local sports group Hastings Rounders have reported a dramatic success. No bats or balls were involved – rather, they accomplished the remarkable rescue of a dolphin trapped…
Heart Surgery Stitch-Up?
Conquest Hospital Loses Out to Eastbourne on Future Despite an outcry by Hastings Borough councillors and more muted objections from within the local medical community, the Conquest Hospital is to…
Pilot Lights Going Out? Council Debates Football Club Relocation
A full meeting of Hastings Borough Council (HBC) – the first in two months – was due to debate last night (Thursday) a motion tabled by Conservative council leader Andy…
St Mary on the Market, Opus to Close
St Mary in the Castle, the Grade II-listed church turned arts and music venue beneath West Hill, has been put on the open market for sale or lease. Freehold owners…
Wintry and Discontented
As truly wintry conditions swept into Kent and East Sussex this week, trade unions with substantial local membership announced further industrial action in support of better pay and working ;…