Tag archives for Andy Batsford
Hastings Welcomes Your Party
Just days after the damaging bust-up between Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana, the newly formed ‘Your Party’ hosted a public meeting at St John’s Hall on Brittany Road last Tuesday…
Hastings Rebels Find a New Home
ANDY BATSFORD Sometimes the world takes a while to catch up with you. Two years ago, eight of us – all Labour councillors in Hastings – did the unthinkable: we…
Be Bold to Deliver More Council Housing
ANDY BATSFORD In November 2021, I was the Cabinet lead for Housing at Hastings Borough Council when we unveiled an ambitious plan to tackle the town’s worsening housing crisis. The…
NEWS IN BRIEF
Too Many Learners on Ashford Way Residents of Ashford Way and Ashford Road in St Helens are pressing the town’s driving instructors to take their pupils elsewhere when they’re practising…
Pier Events Prompt Council ‘Investigation’
Newcomers to Hastings Pier, Rum Shed, have been advertising a programme of electronic music to be staged this autumn and winter in the three-room, two-storey wooden reception building in the…
Scaled Down Castle Project Will Need Fresh Approvals
HUGH SULLIVAN On the Hastings Town Deal website, the project entitled Hastings Castle World Heritage Destination is still described as “our flagship signature project for the whole Hastings Town Investment…
Election Preparations Gather Pace
Of the eight Hastings Independents councillors on the borough council who defected en masse from the Labour party last December, six were elected in 2022 and are thus not up…
SWIMMING: Summerfields Pool Gets Cash Boost
The immediate future of the swimming pool at Summerfields Leisure Centre has been resolved by the securing of a cash grant of just under £100,000 from Sport ; Naz Montag…
East Hill Lift Reopens
The East Hill Lift, claimed to be the steepest funicular railway in the country, has reopened following the completion of refurbishment work. The lift closed in October 2022 following an…
Clean Water Watch
A regular column to update readers on the damaging effects of the current management of water in Hastings, surrounding areas (and nationally) and what people are doing about it. If…
Get Active at Half Term
Active Hastings, supported by both Hastings Borough Council and East Sussex County Council, are offering a range of free drop-in sport sessions running throughout next week, which is half term…
Clean Water Watch
A regular column to update readers on the damaging effects of the current management of water in Hastings, surrounding areas (and nationally) and what people are doing about it. If…
Hotel Costs Soar But Council “Committed”
HUGH SULLIVAN The construction of a Premier Inn hotel on the former Cornwallis Street car park site owned by Hastings Borough Council (HBC), politically controversial since it was first mooted…
TENNIS: Park Courts Reopening
Six hard courts in Alexandra Park have been renovated by Hastings Borough Council (HBC) with funds from the Lawn Tennis Association, and will be officially reopened tomorrow (Saturday). In celebration,…
Council Cabinet “Refreshed”
Hastings Borough Council (HBC) leader Paul Barnett has reshuffled cabinet roles. He has taken the finance and equalities portfolio for himself, moving Cllr Simon Willis to housing and community development,…
Batsford Pledges Cultural Future For St Mary
HUGH SULLIVAN Three separate “expressions of interest” to take a leasehold interest in St Mary in the Castle were submitted last month to Dyer & Hobbis, agents for Hastings Borough…
Safety Measures in the Park – not welcomed by all
In 2020 Kay Early was brutally attacked by a man in Alexandra Park while walking her dog, suffering severe injuries. The attack happened in broad daylight, and there were many…
Hastings Museum & Art Gallery launches Queer History Trail
To celebrate LGBTQIA+ History Month, the Hastings Queer History Collective are launching a self-guided queer map and walking trail of LGBTQIA+ objects in Hastings Museum and Art Gallery’s collection. The…
St Mary on the Market, Opus to Close
St Mary in the Castle, the Grade II-listed church turned arts and music venue beneath West Hill, has been put on the open market for sale or lease. Freehold owners…
MP “Blocking” Landlord Licensing Programme
As reported in HIP 162 (Selective Licensing: Ministry Delays Renewal), the system of landlord licensing which Hastings Borough Council has operated in a number of wards of the town over…
Plans Lodged Housing on Pilot Field
Hastings United Football Club have lodged twin planning applications with the borough council to pursue their intended relocation from Pilot Field on Elphinstone Road to the Tilekiln playing fields above…
HBC leads county effort to shelter rough sleepers as winter approaches
Hastings Borough Council is the lead partner amongst councils in East Sussex in a successful joint funding bid from the government’s Next Steps Accommodation Project to minimise the number of…
Selective Licensing: Ministry Delays Renewal
The selective licensing scheme which Hastings Borough Council has operated in a number of wards of the town over the past five years, will expire on 24th October. The council…
Hundreds Face Crisis
Council plea to extend moratorium on evictions By Emma Harwood Hundreds of families and residents across the town will face pain, crisis and homelessness unless the government extends its ban…
Rough Sleeping In Rough Times
On Thursday 26th March, every council leader in England received a letter from Luke Hall MP, the Under Secretary of State for Local Government and ;It asked their councils to house all…
Sunny Side Up
Local Solar Panels By David Dennis Should we site solar panel farms on greenfield sites? Certainly Hastings Borough Council (HBC) thinks we should. Councillor Andy Batsford has confirmed that there…
West Marina Awaits Its Fate
But councillor calls for “ideas and creativity” Hastings Borough Council (HBC) is about to complete the grant of a long lease of the former bathing pool site at West Marina…
Bexhill Road: 190 New Homes On A Flood Plain
Hastings Borough Council (HBC) announced last week that Homes England has confirmed its grant of up to £ to develop the first tier of open space at Bulverhythe behind Bexhill…
Flood Money Spurs Council Development
On 8 July the cabinet of Hastings Borough Council (HBC) approved proposals for the first new housing development to be carried out in its own name for more than 20…
Super Summer Activities – Have Some Fun, Stay For Lunch!
The Active Hastings project is offering lots of free activities for all ages during the summer holiday. Andy Batsford, lead councillor for leisure said: “Money, childcare, activities, and even food,…
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…