Archives for News - Page 19
Santas on the run
Resembling a hallucination following one mulled wine too many, over 200 sponsored Santas dashed along Bexhill seafront on Sunday 4 December to fundraise for the local Lions club’s charitable causes.…
Council Cabinet Reviews: Cycle route, reservoir works and other issues
By Paul McLaughlin The cabinet of Hastings Borough Council (HBC), shorn of Green councillors since the breakup in October of their party’s coalition with Labour, met on 5 December. Items…
Barnett at odds with Starmer on housing targets
HBC council leader Paul Barnett tweeted last week that the abandonment of mandatory housing targets previously being imposed by the DLUHC was “good news”. It would allow Hastings to decide…
Political Football
Council leader challenged over blocking of relocation plan The owners of Hastings United Football Club are pursuing a collision course with the minority Labour administration of Hastings Borough Council (HBC),…
Council tax and charges both set to rise
The cost-of-living crisis in Hastings is set to get worse over the coming months after the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, signalled government approval for council tax rises in…
Reforesting Hastings
By Mima Bone This week – 26 November to 4 December – is National Tree Week. The aim is to celebrate trees as the heroes of nature at a perfect moment…
Queensway Gateway: funding stand-off continues
The dispute between East Sussex County Council (ESCC) and the not-for-profit regeneration company Sea Change Sussex over financial responsibility for completion of the Queensway Gateway road project which we revealed…
Pharmacy Closure
The recently purpose-built pharmacy at St Leonards Medical Centre in Bexhill Road, operated by national firm Paydens and trading as Warrior Pharmacy, will shortly close. It was serving only as…
Say Hello, Waves Goodbye
By Paul McLaughlin A former amusement arcade and nightclub in the heart of Hastings Old Town has been sold for redevelopment. The property at 39-41 George Street has been vacant…
From Anger to Action
Local nurses vote to join nationwide walkouts By Paul McLaughlin Nurses employed by East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust last week backed their leaders across the country in voting to take…
Hastings Tops South East List for Business Start-ups
Start Up Loans, part of the British Business Bank, has just named the top local authorities for start-ups across the UK – and Hastings tops the list in the South…
Pushing the Boundaries
The Boundary Commission for England has published its final revised proposals for changes to parliamentary constituencies across the country. Voters in Hastings and Rye have until 5 December to submit…
Is the coast clear for oyster-gatherers?
By Hugh Sullivan Walking the Bulverhythe low tide beach one Monday morning last month, local resident Anna Sabin came across a patch of shining mother-of-pearl oyster shells still stuck to…
New Cabinet Posts at Hastings Borough Council
Following removal of the two Green party councillors, Julia Hilton and Glenn Haffenden, from his cabinet on apparent orders from the Labour party’s National Executive, Hastings Borough Council leader Paul…
Stand-Off Over Road Funding
Sea Change and county council in £millions budget wrangle In a fresh twist to the long-running saga of the Queensway Gateway project – the road intended to connect the Bexhill…
St Anne’s reprieve may be short-lived
By Hugh Sullivan A news article in HIP 2011 – St Anne’s reprieved – reported on the decision of the planning committee of Hastings Borough Council (HBC) on 28 September…
Council Votes for ’20 is Plenty’
At the most recent full meeting of Hastings Borough Council on 12 October a motion was approved calling for the setting of a maximum 20 mph speed limit in all…
Scam Builder Update
Following the report in HIP 212 Ore builder scams multiple victims, a further case in Scott Saxby’s standard pattern of taking a hefty deposit, then failing to deliver, has come…
Potholes: a new contractor
EAST Sussex County Council has announced the selection of a new contractor for its highways and infrastructure services from May 2023: Balfour Beatty Living Places Ltd. The contract will run…
Recycling Batteries and Soft Plastics
Incorrect disposal of household batteries is blamed for a spate of recent fires at local waste sites. There have been nine fires at such sites in the county so far…
Greens booted out of council cabinet
By Hugh Sullivan The coalition of Labour and Green party councillors, which has shared control of Hastings Borough Council since the local election in May, has fallen apart. The two…
Defender Day celebrations
Ukrainian refugees and many of their UK hosts gathered on 14 October at His Place church in America Ground to celebrate Ukrainian Defender Day and, for many, to mark their…
Kennel Club Pitches into Dog Restriction Debate
The Kennel Club, which claims to be the largest UK organisation devoted to dog health, welfare and training, last week entered into the consultation being undertaken by Hastings Borough Council…
Nein, Nein, Nein
By Paul McLaughlin Ambulance crews across Hastings are set to take industrial action over Christmas after rejecting the latest pay offer from their local NHS Trust. In a consultative ballot organised…
Rye Pool to close
Freedom Leisure has announced that the swimming pool at Rye Sports Centre will close from 1 November “until further notice”. The stated cause is the rise in energy costs, and…
Ore builder scams multiple victims
A jobbing builder living in Ore named Scott Saxby has been accused of committing a series of frauds upon local home-owners – taking advance deposits for work ranging from patio-laying…
Double murder trial begins in Hove Crown Court
Mark Brown, a long time resident of St Leonards, appeared in Hove Crown Court on Monday on trial for two alleged murders. The jury was due to be sworn in…
Fireworks cancellation disappoints thousands
Bonfire societies from all over Sussex came together last Saturday evening to march along the streets of Hastings in a procession of drums, flares and flaming torchlights as the prelude…
Council to Take Charge of Green Spaces
A proposal to bring the responsibility for maintenance of parks, gardens, allotments and other public green spaces in Hastings and St Leonards “in-house”, under the direct control of the council,…
Enough is Enough: Union Demo at Station Plaza
By Paul McLaughlin In a demonstration mirrored simultaneously in towns and cities all over England, more than 200 people gathered at Station Plaza in Hastings last Saturday morning to protest…
Sewage Debris: Some Home Truths
Andy Dinsdale, founder and CEO of local environmental company Strandliners, calls for more awareness of sewage-related debris. Water quality has been in the news recently, following numerous sewage discharges polluting…
St Anne’s reprieved
By Bernard McGinley On 28 September the Planning Committee of Hastings Borough Council followed its case officer’s recommendation in refusing the application to replace St Anne’s Church in Chambers Road…
Small boat crossings at a new high
Statistics issued by the Ministry of Defence confirm that refugees and would-be migrants are continuing to arrive across the English Channel from France in small boats – mainly rubber dinghies…
Hart goes for Growth – but has Hastings been left behind?
The Growth Plan announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng on 23 September involving tax cuts, energy price caps and huge government borrowing came under immediate and sustained…
Ashford No Longer International
By Mark Sullivan The legendary headline ‘Fog in the Channel – Continent Cut Off’ has reappeared in a new form. Due to management and financial troubles of the Eurostar rail…
What’s to be done with St Mary? (and who’s to do it?)
Health and Culture portfolio holder at Hastings Borough Council (HBC) Cllr Andy Batsford has a whole host of challenging issues in his in-tray. But top of the pile is surely…
Farewell to a sovereign
On Monday morning a crowd estimated at between 800 and 1,000, of all ages from babies in push-chairs to elderly on mobility scooters, gathered in Alexandra Park to watch a…
Hollington Church Under Threat of Demolition
By Bernard McGinley St Anne’s Church in Chambers Road, Hollington, is the subject of a planning application to replace it with five new ; The case reference on the Hastings…
Path clearance at Normanhurst “in breach of TPO”
A complaint has been made to Rother District Council that prospective developers of the Normanhurst estate north of Catsfield have cut a track through historic woodland in breach of a…
Public Shit Storm
Sewage spills on beaches: who’s to blame? Beaches at Bexhill and Normans Bay were closed for around 48 hours on 18 and 19 August after over million litres of water, which…