Archives for Top Stories - Page 3
Town with a Seaview
MEL STEEL The Seaview Project in St Leonards is a rare thing: a genuinely local community charity that has survived for 40 years without ever compromising on its core mission – which…
New Tables, New Tastes
STEVEN SHORT When it comes to food and drink, Hastings and St Leonards continue to punch well above their weight. Times restaurant critic Charlotte Ivers ruffled a lot of feathers last summer…
Taking on the NHS
ROSIE BROCKLEHURST FRANCZAK recounts the litany of health service errors that led up to the premature death of her husband Felicity LaurenceRosie and Paul Ultimately there is no headline story…
Green Light for £3m Hastings Castle Visitor Centre Project
Plans to transform Hastings Castle and the West Hill Café have taken a major step forward, with Hastings Borough Council’s Cabinet backing the project despite a single objection received during…
FOOTBALL: Crucial Week for United’s Future
14 February: Hastings Utd 0, Merstham 0 21 February: Deal Town 3, Hastings Utd 0 HUGH SULLIVAN Hastings United remain perilously close to the relegation zone of the Isthmian League’s…
Reflections on Fat Tuesday
JOEL CHESHIRE & HARRY HAWKINS FRIDAY ‘Unconvention’ kicked off Fat Tuesday: a one-day grassroots music conference held at the White Rock Theatre Studio. This brought together musicians, industry professionals, promoters, educators…
Democracy Delayed is Democracy Denied
LEAH LEVANE It seems that many of our politicians thought that if elections were too inconvenient or expensive then they could just dispense with them. Thankfully this rather blasé approach…
Schools Go Underwater
Sussex Underwater and Strandliners are joining forces in a new partnership project, Sussex Coast Explorers, which will support young people in Hastings and St Leonards to connect with the sea and marine…
The NHS – Your Experiences
Our lead story shows improvements across the local East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, but how do the statistics reflect the experiences of patients themselves? Here HIP has collected reports and…
EXCLUSIVE: Local NHS Numbers in Recovery?
JAMES PRENTICE An exclusive investigation by the Hastings Independent has revealed sustained improvements in figures for the local NHS trust. These enhancements in service delivery are spread across a broad…
Hastings in Eye of Political Storm
PAUL MCLAUGHLIN The political whirlwind engulfing the government swept through Hastings last Thursday morning (5 February) as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer arrived at a wet and windy Horntye Park…
Empty Words: Dollimore’s Record on Gaza
GABRIEL CARLYLE asks how Helena Dollimore responded to the horrors unfolding in Gaza since becoming our MP in 2024 Helena Dollimore’s record as MP for Hastings & Rye tells a…
CHILDREN’S SPORT: Kids Go Free at Half Term
Next Tuesday 17 February, an afternoon of free sports activities will be on offer for children aged between 7 and 14 at Summerfields Leisure Centre on Bohemia Road. Styled as…
Random Reorganisation
Former Hastings Council leader PETER CHOWNEY says repeated waves of piecemeal changeshave wrought havoc on local government in England Kent BarkerRoquebrun, France, population 606, has its own council The way…
Eagle House Re-opens its Doors & Invites You to Show the Love
“Show your love” events on 11th February and Valentine’s weekend will mark the opening of Eagle House and celebrate new spaces at 12 Claremont and the Observer Rooftop. Elsa SimmonsYouth…
Local Legend Named UK Professional Driver of the Year
A familiar face on the roads of Hastings, Bexhill, Battle and the surrounding areas has been named Professional Driver of the Year 2026 at the national QSi Awards, putting local…
What Next for Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve?
ANDREW COLQUHOUN shares the story of how we can trace back human activity on what is now Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve for thousands of years. But Brexit and local…
Our Town, Our Council
Former Council Leader PETER CHOWNEY says that more than a millennia of devolved local government administration in Hastings is about to be abolished, concealed within a disingenuous wrapper called ‘local…
Opportunities at Bexhill Jobs and Apprenticeships Fair
The Bexhill Jobs & Apprenticeships Fair will be back at the De La Warr Pavilion for the 10th time on Friday 6 March between and The fair, in association with…
Frozen Assets – Would a Town Council do Better?
HUGH SULLIVAN Following intended local government reorganisation, a future unitary council – whether it administers the whole of East Sussex or some other territory – will assume responsibility for the…
Hastings Bids for Cultural Prize
The Government has launched a new UK Town of Culture competition as part of efforts to renew the nation’s cultural landscape. The initiative is aimed at towns of all sizes…
Fare Fight?
MP, county council and campaigners clash on bus priorities HUGH SULLIVAN Photos: Jason Ellis In recent days, residents of Hastings and Rye have received a circular through their letterboxes from…
RUGBY: Victory in Yellow
10 January: Hastings & Bexhill 34, Whitstable 17 MAX MOWBRAY Hastings & Bexhill returned to winning ways last Saturday, donning their alternative all-yellow kit against blue-and-white rivals Whitstable and securing…
HIP BOOK REVIEW: Days of Future Utopias
Boom! The Exploding Cinema and the New London UndergroundBy Duncan ReekieREVIEW BY KERRI SHARP St Leonards-dwelling filmmaker, author, artist and performer Duncan Reekie has recently compiled and published an impressive,…
New Year, New Hobby: Chess!
ZAKIR MOHIYUDDIN, HIP volunteer, Hastings-based creative and parent, makes a New Year suggestion Jeshoots, Unsplash The new year arrives with that familiar sense of possibility. As parents, we find ourselves…
Coast to Coast USA – for a Hastings Cause
MEL STEEL Hastings local Josh Bruton grew up in Ore, but has always had a taste for travel and adventure. Or, as he puts it, “doing cool stuff” – which…
Booyah! For the New Year!
MEL STEEL Lisa Driver, founder and CEO of local business success story Booyah! Vitality, is passionate about nutrition, fitness and helping people to feel better. When I meet her she…
New Year Council Offensive
KENT BARKER Hastings Borough Council has begun 2026 with resolute plans to improve the look and amenities of the town. The initiatives centre on the vacant site at the western…
Ambitious New Housing Strategy
Paul McLaughlin Hastings Borough Council has launched its first housing strategy since 2019. The 2025-2030 plan makes confronting the town’s “severe and worsening affordability crisis” its top priority. Council Leader…
Landslides Action Plan
Rod Webb and Paul McLaughlin The threat of landslides in Hastings and St Leonards is real and persistent (see page 5), with 24 recorded events in recent years. The most recent landslides…
The Sporting Year 2025
Cricket Hastings Priory enjoyed a memorable summer as they strode with only occasional stumbles to the Sussex League Division 2 championship title, 52 points ahead of their nearest challengers West…
The Joy ofGiving 2025
Fed up with the hedonism and self-indulgence of the festive season? Read our round-up oflocal campaigns, clean-ups and crowd funders, and choose how you can give something back tothe community.…
Bin the Beads – But Who Pays?
Scientists from King’s College London have tested some of the plastic ‘bio-beads’ washed up recently on Camber Sands and found they contain heavy metals, including lead, arsenic, and cadmium. The…
Checkmate by the Sea: the Battle of Minds Returns to Hastings
Schach. Шахи. Sjakk. Fichille. Tàileasg. Schaken. Şah. Échecs. Skak. Satranç. Call it what you will - it’s still Chess in any language - and as TOBY BULA-EDGE and KENT BARKER…
Human Exploration: Grace Lau
HANNAH LOUISE SAMPSON Grace Lau has had a unique and adventurous four decades working with portrait photography, and she doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Recently she exhibited her body…
Ten-Year Plan to ‘Transform’ Hastings?
HUGH SULLIVAN Cleaner, greener and safer streets. Revitalised community spaces. Restored heritage assets. Modern sports, leisure and play facilities. These are the things which matter most to the people of…
Oil Spill in Solid Form
PHILIPPA BOGLE was among the first of the hundreds of volunteers helping clean up millions of plastic beads released by Southern Water which are polluting our beaches - working alongside…
Late-Night Shopping in December
Shop local this Christmas in St Leonards and the Old Town St Leonards held its Frost Fair last Saturday to mark the start of the Christmas season, and the celebrations…
More Palestine Action Arrests
Seven more residents of Hastings and Bexhill have been arrested under the Terrorism Act for carrying placards supporting the banned protest organisation Palestine Action. Five – including two over the…
Town Hall Set to Lose Registry Functions
HUGH SULLIVAN A decision taken by East Sussex County Council (ESCC) to move the functions of the Hastings Register Office from the Town Hall on Queens Road to the Library…