St Mary Loses Its Friends
St Mary-in-the-Castle, the Grade-II*-listed structure built as a church in the 1820s in neo-classical style as the grand architectural centrepiece of Pelham Crescent beneath West Hill, remains one of Hastings’ primary concert and entertainment venues. It will host a full…
Ore Library Re-opening, Community Centre Retained
The community group Big Local North East Hastings (BLNEH), a partnership of residents which dispenses national lottery funds, last week announced a grant of £6,000 to Ore Community Library Group to finance the re-opening of the library in Old London…
Chowney Appears In Perry’s Scope As The First Pre-Election Torpedoes Are Fired
In an article printed in Hastings in Focus, Hastings and Rye Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate, Nick Perry, cited indices where areas of Hastings are highlighted as suffering from deprivation. He stated, “The newly-released 2019 Index of Multiple Deprivation shows Hastings…
Walk-In Centre
The medical walk-in centre at Station Plaza in Hastings will be kept open, re-styled as a Primary Care Hub and offering from December an “advanced nurse-practitioner-led service”. That is how Jessica Britton, managing director of the Hastings & Rother Clinical…
New Special School Set For Former Helenswood Site
A new ‘free’ special school, known as The Flagship School, is being planned for the former Helenswood Upper site on the Ridge. On 20th September East Sussex County Council (ESCC) resolved to transfer ownership of the site to the Department…
Regime Change at Rother: The First Hundred Days
Doug Oliver has enjoyed his first hundred days as leader of Rother District Council. The previous Conservative administration, ousted in elections across the board in May, had been, in his view, politically partisan, keeping all cabinet posts for Tory councillors…
Amber’s October Summit
On 8th July Amber Rudd MP headlined her Hastings & Rye constituency website with news that she had met with then Roads Minister, Michael Ellis, and “secured” a commitment from Highways England “to improve the A21”. Reading the smaller print…
Crime Stories
Human TraffickingOn 25th July a gang of ten traffickers and money launderers led by two Kurdish men resident in Hastings and St Leonards were each sentenced to long periods of imprisonment following trials in Woolwich Crown Court. Alan Hoger of…
XR Rebels – More News
Extinction Rebellion (XR)’s local group in Hastings and St Leonard’s built a large traditional fishing boat and carried it down to the beach on Pirate ; PICTURE: David Bruce XR member Phoebe Cecchini said:”We decided to celebrate the special fishing…
Wi-Fi Refugee On St Leonards Seafront
A homeless Hastings woman with a complex medical condition is facing huge fines for non-payment of parking tickets. Roxanne Roma has been living in a camper van on St Leonards sea front since March this year. Numerous parking tickets litter…