Tag archives for Paul Barnett
This Local Plan is a Weak Plan
Paul Barnett, Leader of the Hastings Independent Group, Hastings BC We all know there is a housing crisis in Hastings. The council has made tackling this a priority. And many…
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 BC Councillors’ Reaction
Hastings Borough Councillors reacted to the news about Wealden DC and Brighton and Hove at the meeting of the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee last Thursday (18 September). The special…
HIGs to Oppose Reform Proposals
The Hastings Independent Group is to call on the Leader of Hastings BC, Julia Hilton, at next week’s Annual Council meeting, to commit to leading a campaign against the government’s…
Hastings Rejects Racism
Hastings rose to the nationwide challenge of violent anti-immigrant protest last week with three anti-racist gatherings. Dave Young In the week beginning 5 August a message was circulated on the…
Mayor Margi Takes Labour Lead
Following the local election at the beginning of this month, as reported in HIP 251, the political parties now represented on Hastings Borough Council hold numbers of seats as follows:…
‘A Disgrace’ – Party Politicians Wade In
Views of what happened at the council meeting last Wednesday have divided sharply on party political lines Still from video footage inside the council chamber on 20 March Labour leader…
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…
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…
Independents Party Launch
PAUL McLAUGHLIN The newly formed Hastings Independents Party celebrated the launch of its breakaway political venture with 40-50 people crammed into Mike’s Bar in Norman Road, St Leonards last Friday…
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…
Council Anger: “They Have Trashed our Town”
PAUL McLAUGHLIN Trust in Southern Water amongst Hastings Borough Councillors has plunged to a new low in the wake of last month’s town centre flooding. At a simmering meeting of…
Councillors Address Safety Issues
PAUL McLAUGHLIN Last Wednesday (22 November), a full meeting of Hastings Borough councillors at Muriel Matters House discussed issues of violence, stab injuries and late night raves. White Ribbon Day …
BLOOM OR BUST?
“£100m” for garden town project, but council cuts still impending HUGH SULLIVAN The cabinet of Hastings Borough Council (HBC) met on 6 November to debate a very mixed financial agenda.…
Privatisation of Water Was a “Mistake” Says Local MP
Paul McLaughlin Local MP Sally-Ann Hart expressed her “deep frustration” at the poor performance of Southern Water and now believes water privatisation was a “mistake… in hindsight.” In a wide-ranging…
Council Finances Suffer Further Pain
Likely staff salary inflation will add to deficit HUGH SULLIVAN The cabinet of Hastings Borough Council held session on Monday evening to review the latest forecasts of the council’s future…
REPORT PROMPTS COUNCIL SELL-OFF
HUGH SULLIVAN A meeting of the cabinet of Hastings Borough Council on Monday evening approved the sell-off of four property assets. Amongst them are two plots of land – at…
Sewage Leak: Pump Up the Volume
PAUL McLAUGHLIN The Pumphouse in Alexandra Park was packed last week (14 July) for a meeting to discuss the recent sewage pollution of the Old Roar Gill. There was a…
Council leader plays down bankruptcy threat
A recent issue of Private Eye described a leaked ‘peer review’ of the finances of Hastings Borough Council prepared by the Local Government Association as revealing it to be “on…
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,…
STORM OVER COUNCIL VOTES
Labour “power grab”or “far-right” gift horse? Kevin BoormanNew mayor Margi O’Callaghan and deputy Heather Bishop HUGH SULLIVAN Hastings Borough Council leader Paul Barnett started his regular column in the Hastings…
Council Tax hikes, budgets approved
by PAUL MCLAUGHLIN Hastings Borough Council (HBC) agreed to raise the local council tax by the maximum amount allowed without holding a local referendum at a fiery meeting of the…
Ordinary People, Extra-Ordinary Day
BY PAUL MCLAUGHLIN On Saturday 28 January, the people of Hastings gathered for the annual service to mark Holocaust Memorial Day. The event was part of the international commemoration to…
SAVE THE CHILDREN!
Refugee aid group highlights safeguarding failures BY HUGH SULLIVAN On 24 January the UK Parliament debated allegations published in the national Observer newspaper the previous weekend that dozens of unaccompanied…
St Mary in the Community
Creatives call halt to disposal, seek link to castle. Under an initiative co-ordinated on behalf of Hastings Creatives group by Glenys Jacques, trustee of Barefoot Opera and long-time collaborator on…
Heart Surgery Stitch-Up?
Conquest Hospital Loses Out to Eastbourne on Future Despite an outcry by Hastings Borough councillors and more muted objections from within the local medical community, the Conquest Hospital is to…
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…
Union rally
A rally held at East Sussex College last Thursday evening by Hastings & District Trades Union Council underthe slogan Hastings Demands Better attracted a cast of prominent local speakers, including…