Archives for News - Page 35
Closed for Planning or Planning for Closure?
By Hugh Sullivan Sheikh Abid Gulzar gave pledges within a few days of his purchase that free entry to the pier would be retained and that it would be kept…
An “Appalling Process”: Political Opposition Gathers
On 3 January Amber Rudd, MP for Hastings and Rye, launched a petition with to challenge HBC’s proposal to install two solar farms at the Milking Parlour within Hastings Country…
Upper Wilting Land, Marriage and Death
How can we weave a burning farmhouse, a dead king, a wind farm and some solar panels into a single tale? By David Dennis The proposed solar site below Lower…
Pier Pressure
The company which owns Hastings Pier has been ordered by a tribunal to pay two former employees thousands of pounds in unauthorised wage deductions and holiday pay. Emma Harwood reports. Sheikh Abid…
Solar Farm Projects Get Cautious Go-Ahead
By Hugh Sullivan A Hastings Borough Council scheme to install solar energy farms at three sites on the periphery of the town - two of them at the Milking Parlour…
HERITAGE CRIME: Police Need Help
The heritage of Hastings and surrounding districts consists of historic buildings, churches, houses, cenotaphs and commemorative locations, castles, forts, earthworks, battlefields, wreck and archaeology sites. It also includes the wildlife…
Getting Hastings To Work
The community interest company The Work People, a re-branding of the Hastings Works recruitment and training enterprise centred in Robertson Street, has secured new funding totalling £107,000 from a joint…
Tribunal Upholds Council’s Financial Penalty System
A Housing Tribunal has dismissed an appeal by Hastings landlord Keith Worsley against a £1,000 penalty imposed upon him by the Borough Council (HBC) for his failure as landlord to…
Friends of the Pier: “We’ll be here when the time comes”
Friends of Hastings Pier (FoHP), the community group whose bid to buy the pier in June was unsuccessful, remain buoyant despite the withdrawal from frontline action of two leading activists,…
Hungry All Year Round
The Hastings Foodbank, which has reported a shocking 87 per cent increase in use over the last two years, is making an urgent appeal for donations over the Christmas and…
BOOKS TO PRISONERS
Local bookshop owner’s charity wins prize by Anna Arnone Lee Humphries, owner of Printed Matter Bookshop in Queen’s Road, recently attended a ceremony in London to collect the top 2018…
Hastings Independent Art Auction
Tuesday 11th December The Printworks, Claremont, TN34 1HA Video featuring a selection of the art on offer. Live Music from Roger Hubbard and Marie White, Food available in Gotham Alley…
Protest over Hastings Firm’s Links to US Child Detention
Around 12 activists from Global Justice Bexhill and Hastings demonstrated in protest last Friday 23rd November outside the Castleham offices of General Dynamics UK over the role of its parent…
Big Local Announces Small Grants Roster
Grant awards of up to £1,066 each to community groups in North-East Hastings for financing of forthcoming projects have been announced by Big Local (BLNEH), the resident-led partnership that administers…
Pier Blaze Quickly Extinguished
Fire officers have praised staff working on the pier for their quick response to a fire which broke out on Saturday morning in the Pavilion restaurant. The blaze, which started…
What Lies Beneath: Keeping Hastings Pier Safe
By Emma Harwood It won the RIBA Stirling Prize for its sophisticated, contemporary design last year. Yet almost half of the £14 million Heritage Lottery and other public funding spent…
College Proposes To Cut 40 Jobs But No Frontline Teachers At Risk
In March, Sussex Coast College in Hastings announced that it was merging with Sussex Downs in Eastbourne, Lewes and Newhaven to form a new sixth form and adult learning centre,…
Pier Sheds Backed By Council Manager
“A Wasted Opportunity” Says Prize-Winning Architect Reported by Emma Harwood Sheikh Abid Gulzar’s proposals to build five temporary sheds on Hastings pier have been supported by the council’s Marketing and…
SEcamb Still Understaffed – Here’s Why
The NHS ambulance trust which serves the A & E department of the Conquest Hospital remains in special measures following inspections by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) between July and…
The UC Regime In Hastings
Universal Credit (UC), administered by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), is a key element in this Government’s welfare benefits regime. It merges six working age benefits into a…
Survey Results
Proposal to bring together Helenswood Academy and William Parker Academy ‘as a co-educational school with a strong emphasis on the performing arts and sports’ starting, from September 2019. School to…
Police Numbers
New analysis of National Audit Office data by the Labour Party shows a fall in central government funding to Sussex Police of more than £57 million in real terms since…
Ark Merger: Opinion Split
Following a six-week consultation process reviewing the proposal to merge Ark William Parker and Ark Helenswood Academies, the Ark company has released results of an online and paper-based survey conducted…
Housing Inquiry Cancelled
The three-day Public Inquiry due to be heard by a Planning Inspector at the Hastings Borough Council (HBC) chamber next month has been cancelled following withdrawal of the planning appeal…
Careless Employers: A Tale of Universal Credit
By Lindsey Williams At the beginning of June this year I returned to Hastings from a working trip abroad - I had been teaching English as a foreign language in Indonesia…
No to the Merger
By Maria Cooke I had been a member of staff at William Parker School for 11 years when Ark took over, but stayed only six months under the incoming regime.…
HIP Readers Decry Flu Jab
Susan McFie’s article in the last issue of the Hastings Independent questioning the effectiveness of flu vaccines and criticising the way in which the NHS promotes them has struck a…
Darning the Town Fabric
Last Thursday Hastings Green Party, as represented by Julia Hilton, hosted the first of what will be regular monthly or bi-monthly talks on matters of community importance to the town.…
Pier Plans: ‘Lord’ Brett Explains
Sheikh Abid Gulzar, owner of Hastings Pier, submitted long-anticipated planning and listed building consent applications to Hastings Borough Council (HBC) last week for enhancement of facilities on the pier. The…
Council Versus Community
Observer Building Rejected As Community Asset. By Emma Harwood An application by a local charity to register the former Observer building as an asset of community value has been turned…
Homes For People Or For Wildlife?
By David Dennis The Combe Valley Countryside Park covers about 1,500 acres of countryside between Hastings and Bexhill. About half of the land is privately owned and farmed; the remainder belongs to Hastings,…
‘No Other Option’
By Emma Harwood A couple who want to demolish their 85-year-old pub and replace it with two houses and a café/bar have defended their plans, saying local objectors need to…
Funding Crisis to Hit Borough Council Services
Services provided by Hastings Borough Council are expected to be further cut or discontinued following urgent discussions this month. Council Leader Peter Chowney will be closeted with senior council officers…
A Sticking Plaster
Government funding to provide short term solution for Hastings homeless as the council borrows millions to provide affordable accommodation by Emma Harwood Funds to help tackle the sharp increase in…
Q: When is a Walk-in Centre not a Walk-in Centre?
A: When it is replaced by a ‘Primary Care Community Hub’ By Emma Harwood Campaigners battling to prevent the closure of the Station Plaza Walk-in GP centre have vowed to keep…
Welcome Home
Hundreds of people welcomed Hastings’ brand new all weather lifeboat which arrived at her new home on Saturday. Escorted by a flotilla of four RNLI boats, the new £ million…
Fairground Plans Spark Criticism of Foreshore Trust
By Emma Harwood The Foreshore Trust – the charity which manages land from Rock-a-Nore to Bulverhythe on behalf of the public- has come under heavy criticism over its handling of…
Smart Billing or Stealthy Killing?
Suzie McFie argues that inviting a smart energy meter into your home might be a seriously bad idea The UK government wants to put smart meters into every home in…
Observer Building Revival: New Community Plans Afoot
By Sam Kinch and Beth Woolf Thirty five engaged local residents gathered on Monday 24th September to discuss an ambitious plan to rescue and revive one of Hastings most prominent…
Land-banking at Barley Lane: A History of Dodgy Dealing
By Richard Price The planning appeal which is to be heard by way of public inquiry in December (see front page) follows an application made in August 2017 for outline…