Pier Reopens: Not Many Hands On Deck
By Emma Harwood Visitors to Hastings pier were able to stroll on the deck for the first time in nearly four months when the gates reopened to the public on Monday. Owner Sheikh Abid Gulzar bought it - restored with…
BUDDY UP – Hastings Local Wins International Women’s Day Award
By Gareth Stevens Rossana Leal, founder of the Hastings & Rother Refugee Buddy Project has had her innovative community leadership work recognised at the Women of the World Festival in London. PICTURE: Dave Young On Sunday 10th March, the day…
News in Brief
• On 6th March the planning committee of Hastings Borough Council approved the application made by Sheikh Abid Gulzar, owner of Hastings pier, to erect five sheds on it. Three committee members, Cllrs Beaver, O’Callaghan and Webb, declared prejudicial or…
Local Media Students Interview Amber
The week of 11th March was a fraught one in Parliament for Department of Work and Pensions Minister and Hastings & Rye MP Amber Rudd - see our political pages for more coverage. However it started with an on-the-record interview…
RISING TIDE – Youth Climate Protest in Hastings
By Mima Bone “What does democracy look like? This is what democracy looks like!” So went one of the vocal and impassioned chants at Hastings’ second Youth Strike for Climate last Friday, 15th March. Around 180 people gathered in the…
Bohemian Rhapsody
Council votes funds for feasibility study The Labour-controlled cabinet of Hastings Borough Council (HBC) voted on Monday evening to pursue a feasibility study for the development of a combined sporting and cultural centre in the White Rock area off Bohemia…
“Jew-Baiting” In Hastings Labour Party?
Amber Rudd’s Remarks Draw Prompt Denials In a remarkable press release, issued last Sunday and given extensive exposure by the national newspapers, Amber Rudd, MP for Hastings and Rye as well as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, referred…
The Lights Go Out
By Alan Wright ‘Illuminations’, the lighting shop in Queens Road, conducted its final trades last month after a prolonged series of closing down sales. In the fashion of the times the premises have been leased to yet another hair salon,…
The Tenth Anniversary – Tuesday gets fatter
At the time of going to press, the main musical event of Fat Tuesday, 5th March, had yet to get under way. But already a schedule of gigs, parades, workshops and parties crammed into the first four days of the…
Tax Fraud Office Pursues Sheikh Gulzar
By Emma Harwood Hastings Pier owner Sheikh Abid Gulzar was fined thousands of pounds last week for breaching tax regulations along with two of his companies which had been ‘trading illegally’, according to HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service. The Eastbourne-based hotelier…