Tag archives for Hastings Borough Council - Page 5
Green Takeover, Independents Frozen Out
PAUL McLAUGHLIN The appointment of an all-Green Cabinet by Julia Hilton, the leader of Hastings BC, has sparked discontent among the Hastings Independents group of councillors. The Greens and the…
Challenge to Dog Exclusion Zone on Stade Beach
HUGH SULLIVAN The extent of the dog control public space protection order (PSPO), which has limited the exercising of dogs on beaches, parks and green spaces across the borough since…
IN WITH THE NEW
Green surge in council election shake-up HUGH SULLIVAN Hastings Borough Council will have 12 new councillors when it reconvenes later this month. Eight are Greens; four are ; Naz Montag…
NO LIKELY WINNER
Will Town Elections Result In New Coalition? PAUL McLAUGHLIN & HUGH SULLIVAN This year’s local elections for Hastings Borough Council (HBC) will be held next Thursday 2 May. Polling booths…
Long Term Plan Fund: Meet the Board
HUGH SULLIVAN In addition to receipt of £20 million capital investments under DLUHC’s Levelling Up Partnership Scheme, Hastings has been selected as one of 75 towns to receive another £20m…
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…
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…
Jack-in-the-Green Future ‘At Risk’
PAUL McLAUGHLIN The future of the Hastings traditional Jack-in-the-Green festival has been put in doubt because of a lack of funding and commitment from Hastings Borough Council(HBC), according to founder and…
Old Roar Update
Hastings Borough Council’s insurers have agreed to fund the cost of an urgent geotechnical survey of the area of Old Roar Gill which suffered a severe landslip last month. The…
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…
Motion for Gaza Ceasefire
Under the existing constitution of Hastings Borough Council (HBC), motions brought for debate “must be about matters for which the Council has statutory powers, duties or functions, or address the…
DISSENT, DISORDER, DIVISION
Uproar As Mayor Terminates Council Meeting PAUL McLAUGHLIN AND HUGH SULLIVAN The last full meeting of Hastings Borough Council before May’s local elections was suspended and then abandoned last Wednesday…
£5.4m Awarded for Hastings Council Housing
Hastings Borough Council has been offered £ by central government to tackle homelessness. A spokesperson for the council said last week that an unspecified part of this money will be…
Beach Hut Owners Remain in Dispute with Council
At the cabinet meeting of Hastings Borough Council (HBC) on 29 January, a question was asked by a member of the public about the current condition of beach huts in…
BOORMAN’S BACK
Former council manager joins crisis response team at Old Roar PAUL McLAUGHLIN Hastings Borough Council (HBC) has set up a dedicated emergency response taskforce to coordinate efforts to help those…
Tipping Point
According to Government figures issued by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), there were 1,555 recorded incidents of illegal dumping across the town of Hastings in…
Ice Creams but no Café
Hastings Borough Council have been inviting ‘Expressions of Interest’ to operate an ice cream concession from a fixed location outside the West Hill café for the 2024 season. Prospective operators must…
The Chamberof Horrors
ELSPETH TIDDLYPUSH gives a personal view on the reasons for the malaise in local politics. A Wednesday morning a few weeks ago in January, I decided to attend a meeting…
Azur Closure
The Azur Marina Pavilion has been closed to all customers and hirers since 29 January following an agreed out-of-court settlement between the leaseholder company Azur Events Limited and its landlord…
Cabinet Approves Council Tax Hikes
A meeting of Hastings Borough Council’s cabinet on Monday evening (12 February) approved proposals to bring forward the period from two years to one year when an unoccupied and substantially…
Beach Hut Tenants Rebel
MARISA McGREEVY ROSE A group of tenants of the beach huts at West Marina are demanding that Hastings Borough Council (HBC), their landlord, schedule a full programme of maintenance to…
Controversy over Council Cabinet – Carr Quits
On Monday (29 January) new Hastings Borough Council leader Julia Hilton presided over her first cabinet meeting since being voted in by the full council a fortnight ago. As reported…
Cornwallis Street Hotel Sale Set for Approval
The controversial hotel development on the site of the former car park at Cornwallis Street is set to proceed after a renegotiation of terms between the land owners Hastings Borough…
Greening Hastings
IAN BUNCH argues that the council needs to step up to the mark and lead a volunteer army to plant trees in Hastings. Kent Barker Most of us love trees…
What to do with Dorothy
PAUL McLAUGHLIN A campaign to save the historic fishing boat which greets visitors to Hastings as they exit the railway station has divided local opinion. The RX53 Dorothy Melinda is…
What’s to be Done About Housing?
HUGH SULLIVAN The economics of the housing crisis in Hastings are easy to summarise: too much demand, not enough supply. The result: a rise in house prices, currently curtailed by…
Staying in the Borough
Town sports clubs’ move to Claremont School “won’t proceed” Hugh Sullivan The plan to relocate the town’s prime cricket and hockey clubs from Horntye Park to Claremont School appears to…
Facing the Financial Facts
PETER FINCH, Chairman of Horntye Park Management Company which acts as sole Trustee of Hastings and Rother Sports Trust, explains how sale of the cricket arena at Horntye will benefit…
BARNETT’S BLUE MONDAY TURNS GREEN
HUGH SULLIVAN and PAUL McLAUGHLIN The third Monday of January has come to be coined as Blue Monday – the most depressing day of the year in the UK measured…
Labour Pulled Apart
Rebel Group Quit Party But Still Lead Council HUGH SULLIVAN On 13 December a full meeting of Hastings Borough Council approved budget proposals for 2024-25 aimed at saving around £4m,…
‘BUDGET FOR HOPE’, SAYS COUNCIL LEADER
But higher charges and reduced services are on the way HUGH SULLIVAN Hastings Borough Council was due to meet in full session on Wednesday of this week (13 December) with one…
Christmas Cheer
Naz Montag Hastings Borough Council resolved earlier this year that in its current financial predicament it could not afford to fund the provision of any Christmas trees in the town.…
West Hill Café and St Mary in the Castle – ‘Partners’ Sought
A call by Hastings Borough Council (HBC) for “experienced developers and operators” to put forward ideas and proposals “to restore the West Hill Café to its full potential” as part…
Council Presses for Investigation Into Conduct of Pier Company
HUGH SULLIVAN Lions Hastings Pier Limited, the company which was managing the pier for its owner Sheikh Abid Gulzar, was put into voluntary liquidation in August this year. Its debts…
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…
How Green is Local Labour?
DAVID EP DENNIS argues that the environmental agenda of the Labour council in Hastings is at odds with the national policies of the Labour Party … potentially to the serious…
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…
White Rock Theatre Under New Management
The Guildhall Trust, a charitable foundation which has run the Portsmouth Guildhall since 2011, is set to take over management of the White Rock Theatre from the beginning of February…
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…
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…