Archives for News - Page 24
Old Town Carnival Returns
After cancellation of the Old Town Carnival Week last year under pandemic conditions, the 2021 celebrations have gone ahead largely unbridled, though some events – in particular the Pram Race,…
Southern Water at Bay
A large sewage pipe at Bulverhythe belonging to Southern Water burst last week. According to initial reports, the leak occurred initially on the Wednesday and was partially repaired but, following…
Forward Quits Seachange
Hastings Borough Council leader Kim Forward has resigned from the board of Seachange without apparently putting any successor in ; The company’s articles of association provide for the three councils…
Green Agenda Within Approved Programme
Hastings Borough Council’s programme for the year, approved at the council meeting on 14th July by the Labour majority though opposed by the Conservative opposition, has seven “priority themes’”. •…
Councillors Clash over Harrow Lane Housing plans: “Ghetto”, “Nimbyism” & “Panama accounts”
Labour and Conservative councillors traded insults at a full (and live) meeting of Hastings Borough Council last week as they debated the council’s plans to build 200 new homes on…
Humpty Dumpty and the Giant School Experiment
By Nick Pelling In January of this year the Education Secretary Gavin Williamson announced that school exams were “cancelled”. And yet “Results Day” is still going to occur in August.…
Blue Plaque for Poly
A blue plaque now marks punk legend Poly Styrene’s formerSt Leonards residence. A campaign by the 1066 Music Blue Plaques group to mark the iconic musician’s presence gained a great…
Guardians of the Night
Council, Police debate conditions for reopening town nightlife As national government prepares to relax Covid regulations to allow the resumption of indoor hospitality without social distancing from 19th July, two…
Landlord Licence Scheme Discarded
In what lead housing councillor Andy Batsford describes as “a massive dark and backwards step in the protection of our local families”, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and…
Caution: Pirates in Town Again
By Anton Burton-Windsor We’ve been a long time at sea, and the scourge still lurks amongst us – this year’s pirate shenanigans will not be like any other year, we…
Country Park footpath to be restored
Hastings Borough Council has announced that the footpath into Ecclesbourne Glen from the top of East Hill is to be restored following a report commissioned by its geotechnical engineers Coffey.…
Autumn Almanac
Hastings Borough Council has previously announced that itdoes not intend to promote any “medium to large-scale” events on its land until 31st July. In fact it has scheduled none until…
“Fuller Must Fall”
Anti-racist campaigners seek biography ‘rewrite’ 1066 Country’s official website for tourism and travel information describes Fuller’s Follies, bizarre brick and stone structures erected in and around the village of Brightling…
Targeting The Unvaccinated
Council Urges “More Personalised Approach” According to figures supplied by the Sussex Health and Care Partnership, the percentage of over 50s in the county who had been jabbed at least…
72 flats proposed for Ocean House
The freehold owners of Ocean House, the 13-floor office block which towers over Warrior Square railway station, have submitted plans to Hastings Borough Council to convert all but the bottom…
Back to Nature
A community compost scheme is coming to St Leonards in July. Partly inspired by the already successful Brighton & Hove Food Partnership the initiative will shortly open a pilot project…
Indoors versus Outdoors: the Cultural Impact
Last Monday 21st June was supposed to be the day that all coronavirus restrictions were lifted in England – dubbed “Freedom Day” by mainstream media ; The extension for another…
Seafront Murals Could Be Repeat Business
The 17 colourful murals recently painted on ‘suntrap’ booths along the seafront at the side of Goat Ledge café are the outcome of an initiative Painting the Prom conceived and…
Pop Up at the Stade
The Pop Up Emporium is back this Summer, returning to Hastingsafter a year of moving their markets online. Hosting a selection of makers and creative small businesses, these markets offer…
To Spray Or Not To Spray?
Councils clash on streets of Hastings East Sussex County Council’s continued use of the weedkiller glyphosate on the streets of Hastings has come under fire from Hastings Borough Council. The…
Greening the Triangle
Hastings Heritage Action Zone and Green Dreams landscape architects are consulting on making Robertson Street and the surrounding area greener and more pedestrian ; They suggest the creation of temporary…
Objections mount against North Queensway business park
Nearly 100 people have already registered written objections to a planning application lodged with Hastings Borough Council by SeaChange Sussex to build a new business park on North Queensway with…
Local Labour Party Addresses Transgender Issue
Ten years on from its original adoption (see side panel), Hastings Borough Council has indicated that it plans to refresh the town’s Equality and Human Rights Charter, and last week…
County Council Appointments & “Priorities”
The newly elected members of East Sussex County Council met for the first time on 25th May. Returning leader Cllr Keith Glazier told them that he looked forward to working…
Grants Panel: Volunteers, Please
Hastings Borough Council is looking for volunteers to sit on its Grants Advisory Panel. This gives advice to the Hastings and St Leonards Foreshore Trust, of which the Council is…
Help for Non-Rated Businesses
According to a press release issued by Hastings Borough Council (HBC) last week, it has received total funding under the government’s Additional Restrictions Grant Scheme (ARG) scheme since November last…
Police Team Claims Rural Successes
Sussex Police’s Rural Crime Team has marked the first anniversary of its launch in June 2020, claiming that it has made great progress over the past 12 months in tackling…
Fear of Democracy?
Dissident Voices But No Council Debate On 6th May, 23,067 residents of Hastings voted in borough council elections, advised by each of the competing parties on the importance of their…
Potholes – Government Cuts Funding For Repairs
During the first full lockdown in May 2020 Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced that he was taking advantage of emptied roads “to fix potholes and improve roads”. He claimed that…
Rye College Protests
The National Education Union was due to host a public Zoom meeting on Wednesday 26th May regarding the future of Rye College, formerly known as Thomas Peacock. Parents, pupils and…
XR on the Beach
In response to the G7 Summit taking place in Cornwall on the weekend of 11th to 13th June, the Hastings and St Leonards members of Extinction Rebellion (XRHSL) will be…
Hastings Rises Up For Palestine
There was a spirited atmosphere at the Rise Up For Palestine demonstration in Hastings town centre last Saturday, organised by the Hastings & Rye Palestine Solidarity Campaign (HRPSC). Over 120…
Sally-Ann Sets Three Oaks Test
In a parliamentary session last week, Hastings & Rye MP Sally-Ann Hart challenged Matt Warman, the under-secretary of state at the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), to…
Project Art Works Short-listed for Turner Prize
Project Art Works (PAW), a collective of neuro-diverse artists and activists in Hastings, has had its artwork selected as one of fiveentries on a short list for the Turner Prize…
Brexit and Hastings Fishermen
From Hansard 27th April Sally-Ann Hart MP: Brexit is a great opportunity to turbocharge global Britain, but unfortunately it has not worked so far for fishermen in my beautiful constituency…
Julia Hilton: Green Shoots
“I would vote Green, but you don’t stand a chance”. Green party canvassers have heard this response on doorsteps so many times in past elections, both national and local. Those…
Harrow Lane Building Plans Rejected
On 28th April Hastings Borough Council planning committee narrowly rejected, by five votes to four, an application for permission to build 67 housing units on land at the corner of…
Cruel April on the Farm
Last month in East Sussex was one of the coldest and driest Aprils in living memory. Away from the coast, many inland farms experienced up to 20 nights of frost…
What you did on Wednesday
Wednesday 12th May is the day appointed this year by the Mass Observation Archive (MOA) for a mass survey of the everyday lives of people across the UK. This is…
Museum & Libraries Reopen
Hastings Museum & Art Gallery will reopen next Thursday 20th May but with limited hours, advance booking only, and strict controls on visitor numbers aimed at combating Covid-19 infection. Visits,…