Tag archives for Glenn Haffenden
Cinque or Swim?
PAUL MCLAUGHLIN The government has confirmed it will proceed with plans to abolish Hastings Borough Council (HBC), four other neighbouring district and borough councils, and East Sussex County Council, replacing…
News in Brief
Homes for Hastings Hastings Council leader Glenn Haffenden has welcomed new affordable houses coming on stream with the first residents moving into new homes at Orbit’s Levett View development in…
Town Beaches Win Awards
Pelham beach off Hastings and Marina beach off St Leonards have both won national awards presented by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy. Hastings Borough Council Both beaches have been given a Seaside…
Development Special: Local Plan Tribulations
Hastings Borough Council Leader GLENN HAFFENDEN outlines the severe complexities of drafting a Local Plan that will be acceptable to residents as well as to Government HIP: What is the…
Home Stretch
Council Turns ‘Temporary’ Housing into Long-Term Provision Homeless families re-housed by Hastings Borough Council on a temporary basis are being encouraged, where appropriate, to regard their new accommodation as long…
Council Secures Funding to build New Homes for Those in Need
Hastings Borough Council has been allocated more than £ million from the government’s Local Authority Housing Fund (LAHF) to provide homes for vulnerable residents over the next four years. The…
Town Says No to Casinos
Hastings Borough Council Leader Cllr Glenn Haffenden and Deputy Leader Cllr Julia Hilton have joined over 35 other councils in signing a letter calling on the government to reform gambling…
Council Tax Bills Set to Rise
PAUL MCLAUGHLIN Hastings Borough Council’s Cabinet has approved draft budget plans, including a council tax increase for residents from April. This is the maximum rise allowed by the government without…
Council Reform Chaos
Paul McLaughlin The government’s plans for the most radical shake-up of local government structures in a generation appear to be descending into chaos after last week’s announcement that the upcoming…
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…
Warne Apology Still Awaited
Back in August, formal complaints were made both to the Green party and to Hastings Borough Council (HBC) in respect of the conduct of Gensing ward councillor Paula Warne. The…
Boutique Collapse
KENT BARKER Hastings Borough Council is seeking urgent information on the apparent collapse of their council housing partner Boutique Design. The modular homes manufacturer and builder has filed to enter…
Shock at The Bridge Sell-Off
Paul McLaughlin The Parchment Trust has confirmed plans to sell The Bridge Community Centre at 361 Priory Road in Hastings. The building, which has been closed for over seven years,…
NEWS IN BRIEF
Another RIBA Prize for Hastings? The extension of a detached Victorian house in Milward Road on the side of West Hill has been announced as one of six buildings nominated…
Parties Clash over Allotment Sell-Off
PAUL MCLAUGHLIN Relations between the Green-led Hastings Borough Council and the local Labour MP are becoming more fractious. Tensions flared up recently when Helena Dollimore accused the Council of being…
‘Safe, Settled and Affordable’ Homes for All
PAUL MCLAUGHLIN Hastings Borough Council has unveiled a new strategic plan aimed at tackling the housing and homelessness crisis engulfing the town. Council Leader Glenn Haffenden was in the Priory…
News In Brief
Thousands petition Parliament over Conquest Cardiac Closure More than 6,000 Hastings residents have petitioned parliament in a bid to prevent cardiac facilities being transferred from the Conquest Hospital to Eastbourne.…
False Claims Spark Outrage and Fear
PAUL MCLAUGHLIN A number of inflammatory posters appeared last weekend outside 67 Sedlescombe Road South in St Leonards, sparking a wave of controversy on social media. The notices, which included…
Getting Greener
New Council Leader and Mayor Elected by Hastings Council At the Annual Full Council meeting of Hastings Borough Council last Wednesday (15 May), Julia Hilton stepped down as leader, to…
Dog Control Order
Cllr Glenn Haffenden, the Hastings BC deputy leader, has confirmed that dog controls on the beaches in Hastings will switch to the summer restrictions from Tuesday 1 April. The new…
Unitary Authority Will Bigger be Better?
Hastings Borough Council (HBC) will lose its responsibility for helping the homeless under the current plans to replace it with a Unitary Authority in around two years’ time. So far…
West Marina Development
Proposals for development of the old bathing pool site at West Marina are still awaited from West St Leonards Marina Limited (WSLML), the subsidiary of County Gate Properties which holds…
Disabled Facilities Grants Improve Residents’ Lives
The council is continuing its Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) scheme to support residents in need of home adaptations. Between October and December 2024, 30 DFGs were approved for 42 adaptations,…
NEWS IN BRIEF
Council Hacked Hastings Borough Council has been hit by a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack resulting in its website becoming unavailable for a day. Deputy Leader of Hastings Borough…
Town Deal boost for Hastings Commons
PAUL MCLAUGHLIN Hastings BC has awarded the £1m Towns Fund grant for the Town Living Project funding to Hastings Commons, to support the delivery of 12 affordable, sustainable and energy…
Housing Action Man
PAUL MCLAUGHLIN talks to Hastings BC’s Deputy Leader and Housing & Community Wellbeing Portfolio Holder, Councillor Glenn Haffenden, on the vital importance of housing to the future of the town…
O’Callaghan Unveils her Shadow Cabinet Team
Margi O’Callaghan, the Labour Group Leader on Hastings BC, has announced her Shadow Cabinet team following May’s local elections. The Braybrooke Councillor took over the leadership of the Labour group…
Disabled Facilities Grant Increases
Hastings Borough Council has announced receipt of increased funding for Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs) that may enable residents to stay in their own homes rather than needing to move to…
Keeping Summerfields Afloat
Good news for swimmers as Hastings Borough Council receives £266,573 from the government’s Swimming Pool Support Fund (SPSF). The funding is for additional photovoltaic panels (£126,984) and replacement boilers (£139,589) at…
Dog Control Order Designates Summer Exclusion Zones
A year and a half after a public consultation over dog controls in Hastings and 12 months since councillors approved a changed regime, an updated dog control public space protection…
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…
Bathers Going Through the Motions
BY PAUL MCLAUGHLIN Hundreds of environmental campaigners recently gathered in St Leonards for the unveiling of a mock Blue Plaque to highlight the continued dumping of raw sewage into the…
New Cabinet Posts at Hastings Borough Council
Following removal of the two Green party councillors, Julia Hilton and Glenn Haffenden, from his cabinet on apparent orders from the Labour party’s National Executive, Hastings Borough Council leader Paul…
Greens booted out of council cabinet
By Hugh Sullivan The coalition of Labour and Green party councillors, which has shared control of Hastings Borough Council since the local election in May, has fallen apart. The two…