Archives for News - Page 25
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,…
Rally against: ‘Israeli violence and ethnic cleansing’
The Hastings & Rye Palestine Solidarity Group will hold a rally this Saturday, 15th May in protest at what they describe as Israel’s ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing and the…
Ore Library Restoration Day
Tomorrow (Saturday 1st May) at 10am, Ore Library will reopen its doors to the public, almost three years since their closure by East Sussex County Council (ESCC) in May 2018.…
Decimus Burton Gets TUSL Treatment
Decimus Burton Way, a pedestrian walkway in the heart of St Leonards between the top of Silchester Road and The Lawns, has been given a radical make-over under the Tidy…
Sea change Win Planning Appeal in Bexhill
Building of up to 84,000 square feet of further business floor space at Bexhill Enterprise Park is set to proceed following a successful legal appeal by Sea change Sussex (Sea…
Last Days of Debenhams – but no Waitrose
Debenhams store in Robertson Street, which reopened on 12th April for final stock clearance before the premises are vacated, will close for the last time on Tuesday 4th May. Queues…
The Faceless Election
Next Thursday 6th May will witness the widest-ranging local election ballot in Hastings in modern ; All 50 seats on East Sussex County Council, including eight wards of the borough…
Long Covid in Hastings: Online Help
A social media group has been set up to help people in the area who are experiencing debilitating symptoms of Long Covid. The Long Covid Support for East Sussex Facebook…
Opening and Closing
Boris Johnson’s ‘roadmap’ out of coronavirus restrictions reached a key landmark on Monday: the circle in the diary that promised a first professional haircut in four months and first sit-down…
Vaccination Update
Residents of East Sussex aged 50 and over, along with health and care workers and people who are clinically vulnerable, should now be receiving invitations to book a first Covid-19…
Anti-government protests at Hospital and in Park
From 1st April most NHS staff were due to receive a 1% pay rise as announced by the Chancellor Rishi Sunak last month. But a protest meeting convened by Unison,…
Meeting the Duke
The country seems to divide fairly clearly between those who support the monarchy, those who are against the monarchy – and those who aren’t really bothered one way or the…
Link Road Attracts Office Relocations
The Bexhill Enterprise Park, developed by Sea Change Sussex with public funds on a greenfield site as a business spin-off from the Hastings-Bexhill link road across Combe Valley, has welcomed…
Beach Lifeguard Contract Renewed
The beach lifeguard service for Hastings and St Leonards will continue to be provided by the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) for the next three summers. Hastings Borough Council’s cabinet…
Local Elections 2021: Will We Vote?
Next Thursday 6th May local elections are being held across the country. With last year’s ballot postponed during the first coronavirus lockdown, there is a bumper catalogue of council posts…
More Culture Recovery
Arts Council England (ACE) has announced a second round of grant awards to music, arts and theatre venues across the country from its Culture Recovery Fund. A national total of…
Queens Arcade Falls Under Hammer
The freehold of Queens Arcade in Hastings town centre was sold at auction last Wednesday for £461,000. As reported in our last edition (HIP 173 – Why is Queens Arcade…
Zero-ing in on Covid
A campaign to “kick out Covid” launched by Hastings Community Hub, which has co-ordinated the town’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic over the past 12 months, has gained wide community…
Flagship School to Weigh Anchor in September
A new free school in Hastings, initially for Years 5 to 8 (9 to 12-year-olds) will open to just 24 pupils in September. Calling itself the Flagship School, it will…
Vaccination Survey
Healthwatch East Sussex (HES), a charity independent of Public Health England though it receives its funding from the Department of Health, has been monitoring public response within the county to…
Policing Costs Rise
Council tax demands for the forthcoming year 2021/22 have been landing on doormats throughout East Sussex this month. They show a general rise at or below 2% for the funding…
Police Presence Cows Hokey-Cokey
On two Sunday mornings earlier this month, some scores of local protesters gathered at and around the bandstand in Alexandra Park to demonstrate their opposition to lockdown measures. They made…
Park Petition Signed By Over 18,000
A petition calling for the installation of CCTV and appropriate lighting over an approved route through Alexandra Park has gained over 18,000 digital signatures in less than two weeks. A related…
Is Hastings Cracking Up?
By Nick Pelling A recent public Zoom meeting, promoted by several local community groups including Next Door Bohemia and Tidy Up St Leonards, and chaired by Hastings Borough councillor Andrew…
Women’s Vigil Moves Online
A group styling themselves Womens Voice Hastings planned to hold a vigil last Saturday evening at St Leonards Gardens to protest at the abduction and murder of Sarah Everard and…
Cash Splash for Rail Dash?
Hastings and Rye MP Sally-Ann Hart used two separate sessions of Parliament last week to call for national funding to upgrade the Marshlink rail line between Hastings and Ashford. Last…
‘Levelling Up’ Hastings: in which direction?
By Jake Jooshandeh Hastings is in line for up to £50m of Government money from another new fund. The Borough Council (HBC) and Hastings & Rye MP Sally-Ann Hart have…
Culture Recovery Fund Round 2
Music, arts and theatre venues across the country are due to hear by the end of this month whether they will receive grants under Round 2 of the Arts Council…
Why is Queens Arcade Being Auctioned?
PICTURE: Dave Young Queens Arcade, the glass-roofed walkway between Queens Road and York Gardens in Hastings town centre which has housed a mix of small trader outlets since 1882, isn’t…
Three-Year Lease For Returning Pier Management
James Tovey and Mustafa Abdelhadi, who managed Hastings Pier for a limited season last summer, are back in control under a new three-year lease. The pier will reopen its gates…
Race Bias Allegation Fuels St Leonards Planning Contest
By Hugh Sullivan A proposal to build four high-specification ‘eco’ houses on a vacant site at Newts Way in St Leonards is being challenged by planning officers at Hastings Borough…
New Halls of Residence for College
Plans have been announced for conversion of the former University of Brighton building on Havelock Road, and a property on Cambridge Gardens, into dedicated residential accommodation for students of East…
Something to watch over me
Plans for a surveillance system to be set up in the streets of Central St Leonards as part of a ‘Safer Streets’ project funded by the Home Office are at…
Bulverhythe Objectors Multiply
Outright Objectors • Environment Agency• Sport England• Sussex Wildlife Trust• Sussex Ornithological Society• Crowhurst Parish Council• Friends Of Combe Valley• Bulverhythe Protectors• 90+ Individuals Commenting Serious Concerns • County Archaeologist•…
Frenzy for Flats
By Nick Pelling Behind the Covid quietness of the streets of Hastings, a noisy clamour for flats is developing. Demand is flying ahead of supply. The consequence: rents and prices…
Eiffel Replica to be Removed
Nick Charman was unable to travel with his wife Bernie to Paris last year to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their honeymoon there because of Covid restrictions. To make up…
Local Labour at Odds with Party’s National Policy?
Why is Hastings Borough Council (HBC) intent on building on green spaces within the borough when there are extensive brownfield sites in the town that could be developed instead? That…
No Support from MP on Key Worker Pay
Hastings & District Trades Union Council arranged a meeting online last week between local MP Sally-Ann Hart and a selection of key workers. The aim was to enlist her support…
Evictions and Coronavirus
Your rights as tenant By Sophie Bell Many people are understandably scared at the possibility of being made homeless, especially during a national health crisis, and this danger feels much…
North Queensway plans contested by Natural England
By Andrea Needham In August last year, HIP reported that SeaChange Sussex had applied for £ of government funding via SELEP (South East Local Enterprise Partnership) to develop 4,000 square…