Caravan Expansion Threatens Wildlife Access, Say Objectors

Combe Haven has operated as a holiday park in West St Leonards for over 60 years, an institution which has brought several generations of tourists to the town. Owners of, and visitors to, its 900-odd static caravans are served by a variety of leisure facilities, both indoor and outdoor, spread over the site’s 96 acres. They also benefit from ready access to the adjacent Countryside Park, kept protected by its status as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

So far in its history there has been little clash of interests between the holiday park, which is run by Haven Leisure, and its neighbours. The facilities within the holiday area have been developed and updated from time to time to keep pace with changing fashions. There was a shift, for instance, some years ago when the pitch and putt area at the northeastern end of the site was re-purposed for foot-golf, which may or may not have been regarded as more attractive by holidaymakers, but in any event required less maintenance and reduced a perceived health and safety risk.

This year, however, when Haven Leisure applied for planning permission to build over the foot-golf area with 15 new two-bedroom static caravans, serious objections were raised.

The basis of the application is simply the operators’ desire to increase its revenue stream from the additional units so as to “keep competitive”, while providing a “seamless continuation of its facilities and character,” according to its planning design and access statement.

Objectors argue that adding more caravans to the site will expose neighbouring residential households in Reedswood Road to more noise and antisocial behaviour of holidaymakers. There is already a history of disturbances confirmed by regular police call-outs.

More particularly, they say that the foot-golf area currently offers a significant green space between the existing caravans and these permanent residences, providing a haven for wildlife. The back gardens accommodate birds (including owls), badgers, hedgehogs, frogs, toads, newts, snakes, insects including pollinators, foxes, rabbits and bats, all benefitting from the corridor of woodland and green clearing that runs directly up from the edge of the Countryside Park. Filling the space with more caravans is likely to deter and displace these animals.

The NatureSpace Partnership, which employs a Newt Officer funded by Natural England to advise Hastings Borough Council on protection of great crested newts, has lodged a planning response challenging the operators to demonstrate that their proposal will not have an adverse impact on the local newt population.

An e-petition setting out objections has garnered, at the time of going to press, over 150 signatories. It will be open for more signatures up to 23 December. There is likely to be a contested hearing before Hastings Borough Council’s planning committee some time in the New Year.

Hugh Sullivan

Residents of Conqueror Road in West St Leonards, which runs off Harley Shute Road, are currently opposing proposed development of a steeply sloped woodland plot at its eastern end, claiming that there is serious landslip potential there.

A planning application to build three new houses with attached garages on this area was refused in 2023 on several grounds, including concern that no information had been submitted in relation to land instability and that instances of landslip had been reported locally. A renewed application made last year on the same plot, for two houses only, was rejected for similar reasons.

A third application, again for two houses, was made in October this year. Its unnamed proponents claim that their new designs “more accommodate the contours of the land, thereby reducing the amount of excavation”. They have lodged a Ground Investigation report prepared by an Ashford firm, Ground and Environmental Services Limited, which concludes that the prospective construction should not have a “significant impact” on the overall stability of the slope provided that surface water is drained away from it and that vegetation cover is provided.

The objectors point out that the site sits on or beside a flood zone and historic anthrax pit. Development could not only trigger landslip, but threaten protected wildlife such as badgers and newts, and put further pressure on already overstretched water and sewerage systems. They also state concerns about increased traffic, reduced emergency access and loss of privacy and light for nearby homes.

Some 250 people came along to the Old Bathing Pool site in St Leonards … a mixture of local residents, concerned members of the community and curious visitors. The afternoon had a celebratory atmosphere with music from Simon and the Pope, Hastings Punk Choir and a twirling display team: the Tornados Twirl-stars.

The event was billed as “An afternoon for families, friends and communities coming together to protect our town from inappropriate development.” 3,000 local residents have petitioned against the plans of developers West Marina St Leonards Limited (WMSLL). The part of the site demarcated by the developers for community activities and events was cordoned off to show how small this proposed area is.

The ’protest’ element of the day kicked off with a symbolic tug of war between two teams: ‘local residents’ versus ‘developers’ wearing ‘fat cat’ masks: reassuringly, the local residents’ team won.

This was followed by short talks from a range of community group speakers throughout the afternoon, including Jane Ripley of Standing Up for Nature Hastings and Rother; Richard Watson of Energise Sussex Coast; various housing groups, including Ethan Oshoko from ACORN Hastings; Dawn Dublin from Black Butterfly; disability rights campaigner, Sophie Khan and local builder, Chris Dodwell.

In the words of one of the organisers Lucie Mason, founder of SOBS (Save our bathing pool site), the space “belongs to all of us,” and it should be “protected for future generations”. There was a general sense that it was time for community groups to work together and galvanise residents of the town to stand up for this iconic open space and save it from corporate development.

As previously reported in HIP, West Marina St Leonards Limited (WMSLL) has been granted a 250-year lease of the site by Hastings Borough Council (HBC). Neither party has disclosed any of the terms of that lease, but in April and May this year the company publicly exhibited draft designs showing an intention to build up to 151 new homes there. A petition signed by over 3,000 residents has called for the area to be retained as a community and leisure space. Community groups had previously drawn up their own plans for a mixed development on the site with far greater public access.

Anna Sabin, a member of the West St Leonards Neighbourhood Forum which has been working with local residents to create a Neighbourhood Plan for HBC, points out the council have said that what they want from the development of the Old Bathing Pool Site is “a viable and attractive proposition to transform the West Marina into a destination point in line with the objectives of the seafront strategy, provide enhanced leisure opportunities and see much-needed investment in the area.” Campaigners believe that the current proposals fall far short of that aspiration. Ms Sabin said “It’s no good having a plan if no attempt is made to stick to it.” The tug-of-war battle between community and developers is likely to continue for months to come.

The Marina Fountain on West St Leonards seafront has had a great five years: I have to admit that I was concerned for its future: like many others, I have fond memories of eating, drinking and listening to music there. However, on meeting JJ and Paulina, it quickly became clear that they not only had the experience to run a successful pub but were also determined to centre it round the local community.

JJ has been running pubs for 18 years, but the excitement of running big London pubs and managing a large staff has worn off – “spreadsheet operations” as he calls them. Newly married, he and Paulina are “looking to set down roots in the town”. Paulina joined us and explained how she’d visited Hastings for a long weekend and “loved it”: the people, the sea, the atmosphere. JJ agreed, saying that they had come here for “the quality of life”.

He believes that the landlords should have a clear presence in the pub, either one of them being available at all times. “You need to live and breathe it,” he says. That’s not to dominate the atmosphere but to encourage everyone to feel at ease. He also believes in “exceptional service”, which he puts down to his Irish side (just 25%). This involves noticing things and being in tune with customers – especially noticing when they might fancy another drink!

Talking of drinks, they will continue with the current range but plans are afoot to increase real ale taps to three later in the year. 

The first decision was to increase opening to seven days a week. As befits a community pub, things will emerge organically around the needs of the customers. But there are plans for a weekly pub quiz on Thursday, once a month the proceeds going to charity.

We were interrupted by the arrival of the chef and moved on to talking about food. Audrey, who is French, came to work with JJ from London and has already created an affordable menu with vegan tacos (completely allergen-free) and a sumptuous sausage and mash. Although the kitchen is small, everything is prepared on site with locally-sourced ingredients – from Appleyard’s Butchers and Sussex Fruits, conveniently located just down the road, among others. Also, sourdough pizzas – the pizza oven now installed – bar snacks, and even retro offerings such as scampi in a basket (with real scampi, of course)..

And like so many establishments in the town, The Marina Fountain remains firmly dog friendly. In fact, Jarvis the cocker spaniel will be there to welcome them and keep order. And to make that clear to any visitor, Jarvis takes centre stage on the new pub sign. 

However, the Independents have announced that they will be fielding candidates in eight other wards as well – six currently held by Conservatives (Ashdown, Baird, Conquest, Maze Hill, St Helens, West St Leonards and Wishing Tree), two by Labour (Central St Leonards and Wishing Tree). 

Cllr Andy Batsford has admitted that, without any national party organisation to back them, they are heavily reliant upon local volunteers to provide logistical support, including social media messaging, for their relatively unknown candidates. One candidate, however, Peter Bailey in Baird, should be well known to local voters, having headed the opposition to redevelopment of the Pilot Field within the ward.

Labour and Green party canvassers have in the meantime been out in strength in the streets of several wards. Labour brochures appear designed to appeal on a broad front, preparing for a forthcoming national election as well as the local ones: they refer to their constituency candidate Helena Dollimore, championing her role in saving the Ridge Fire Station. Both parties take pains to ascribe pothole responsibility to East Sussex County Council (under a Conservative administration) while claiming that their candidates will make it their priority business to maximise reporting on incidents within their wards. 

The Conservatives, who will be defending eight of the 16 ward seats in the borough, seem to have kept a lower profile. But Reform UK has established a new local constituency branch in Hastings & Rye following the selection of Lucian Fernando, who, as ward councillor for Silverhill on Hastings Borough Council, defected from the Conservative party to Reform last year, to contest the parliamentary seat in the next general election.

The launch event in the Laya restaurant in St Leonards last Thursday (22 March) was also attended by Cllr Abul Azad, who represents Bexhill North on the county council and is Reform’s candidate in the neighbouring constituency of Bexhill & Battle. Cllr Fernando said his party was “dedicated to fostering an inclusive and transparent political environment where every voice is heard, and every concern is addressed”. He promised to “work tirelessly to enact positive change and to build a brighter future for everyone in Hastings and Rye”.

Correction:

In HIP 247 we published an article Can you hear the election drums Fernando which stated that in June 2021 Cllr Fernando had been “arrested and charged with being drunk in charge of a car. He was later fined and disqualified from driving for a year.” He has told us that he was “detained” and not “arrested”, and that he was disqualified for six months, not a year.

Letter

Housing, Not Amusements

Dear HIP

With reference to Year of Shutdown for Owens Refurbishment (HIP 241), what Hastings needs is housing, not a huge indoor games complex. How many one and two bedroom flats could be fitted into the 77,000 sq. ft. of the old Debenhams building? 

Housing for local people, at reasonable rents. Not flats for sale to speculators or Airbnb or once-a-year holiday homes for the DFL crowd. 

If these CFEC/Owens people are so committed to Hastings, perhaps they should rethink their business model and use the multi-million pound investment for what is really needed. A longer term investment perhaps, but a regular income stream from reasonable rents.

Yes, Hastings is a town by the sea, but it doesn’t mean we have to have amusement arcades everywhere. Surely tourists should be coming for the seaside, the beach, the change of scenery. Not to spend all day indoors!

Stuart Denham

from our website

Public Services Needed

With reference to Facing the Financial Facts in HIP 243, the moving of the sports facilities is one thing, and it sounds as though a suitable new site has been found. Fantastic. However, if a significant number of new houses are to be built on the Horntye site, what impact will that have on the local area at large? The roads are already congested and poorly maintained, schools are full, and dentists/ doctors are all over-capacity. Does the Council or Trust have plans to invest in public services to accommodate the extra people living in the Horntye area?

Ben Nice

from our website

Life-affirming memorial

How very moving and life-affirming was the Holocaust Memorial Event at the White Rock Theatre [see David Tasker’s preview in HIP 243]. Thank you, David, for an excellent and powerful presentation of your mother’s miraculous story of survival. Never again.

Clive Agran

from our website

Welcome Rebellion

Thank you for raising this very important issue, Grace (Housing Rebellion in Hastings, HIP 243). We have to move away from the idea of demolition and towards compulsory purchase to refurbish at affordable rents with tenant management.

The only new builds should be zero-carbon, mostly rented co-housing on brownfield sites. Stop selling off leisure or already scarce wildlife plots to greedy developers.

Housing Rebellion is a welcome wind of change.

Ruth Gregory

from our website

What about St Leonards?

In response to Deal Revealed (HIP 242), I am glad we got the funds, but the Town Deal is mostly about the town centre. There is nothing being offered to St Leonards – let alone West St Leonards. Is it any wonder that groups outside Hastings town centre do not bother to submit applications for innovative uses of those funds any more?

Bryan Fisher

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Please be aware we may need to edit letters for reasons of space and we will only withhold names if this is necessary for the protection of the writer.

The new nurse recruitment campaign, coinciding with Demelza’s 25th anniversary, is being launched across the airwaves, national media and the transport network with the message: Be the nurse you dreamt of. The approach has been prompted by the scale of current vacancies across the NHS.

Recent analysis suggests there will be a shortfall of almost 40,000 nurses in England by 2024, even if the government hits its target of securing 50,000 more nurses by then. And this will have a trickle-down effect on nurses within the children’s hospice sector.

Hayley Clark, Director of People, Culture and Resources at Demelza, says: “We want to make sure we are reaching as many people as possible … Adverts will be running across Heart radio stations, in the national press … Southeast Apple News, across the Southeastern transport network, parts of the London underground, and digital and printed poster sites in the Southeast.”

The charity is not only revamping its approach to recruitment to backfill any existing vacancies; it has also set ambitious new targets within its five-year strategy, including reaching 500 new families, children and young people. To do that, Demelza will need to increase its workforce and attract the brightest and the best.

Lavinia Jarrett, Demelza’s Chief Executive, says: “As well as this highly visible campaign, our new workforce strategy will enable us to offer a career pathway to nurses in palliative care, as well as opportunities for nursing associate and nursing degree apprenticeship programmes. Nurses who join Demelza will be able to retain and develop new expert clinical skills, whilst delivering care through play, and family support through time and engagement.

“Employee retention and making Demelza an employer of choice for nurses is also key. Amendments to Demelza’s terms and conditions of employment, such as our increased maternity and sickness absence pay and increased on-call payments for nursing teams, will hopefully play a part in this.”

Any nurse joining Demelza will have a salary matching Agenda for Change (the latest NHS conditions of service) and high-cost area allowance, flexible working, good work-life balance, a 5% nurse retention bonus, as well as the option to continue within the NHS pension scheme.

 And there can be no wider endorsement than that from one of Demelza’s own – Lorraine, a Band 6 nurse working at the Kent hospice said:

“Demelza is so different to working in other healthcare settings – you’re not only providing acute medical care, but you’re also providing holistic support and a stable environment for these families to enjoy – and it’s given me opportunities to develop skills that I never had before.”

If you want to be the nurse you dreamt of, go to: demelza.org.uk/work-with-us-demelza/nurses to find out more. 

Between 27 June and 10 July a group of Travellers camped for nearly two weeks at the Old Bathing Pool site in West St Leonards in 12 or 13 caravans. Their behaviour has upset local residents, who have called into question the responses of police and council authorities.

Bryan Fisher of West St Leonards Neighbourhood Forum says that a number of criminal and anti-social activities were reported to Sussex Police during the fortnight of the encampment. These included multiple incidents of shoplifting from the local supermarket, Premier Stores in Bexhill Road, indiscriminate driving  of cars and racing of a trail bike on the promenade and path by the beach huts, as well as dumping used gas canisters and accumulating other rubbish. 

‘Vel’ Gnanadivel, owner of Premier Stores, confirmed that groups of children were stealing from the shop quite openly. He says he reported several incidents to the police, having CCTV footage from which the identity of the offenders could be checked quite readily. “They didn’t take any interest,” he said. 

“ALL VISITORS WELCOME”

The freehold of the Old Bathing Pool site is owned by Hastings Borough Council (HBC) but leased to prospective developers County Gate. It is not clear whose legal responsibility it is currently to maintain or secure it. However, a spokesperson for the council said: “As a town, Hastings prides itself on welcoming all visitors. A substantial part of our income relies on visitors coming to our town. We treat Travellers in the same way we treat all our visitors.”

Although no permission, either formal or informal, was given to the Travellers to set up camp on the site, according to the spokesperson, the site “was reviewed and checked daily”.  There were also “welfare checks” carried out by officers of East Sussex County Council (ESCC) which were shared with HBC.

“Travelling communities have protected rights as a minority group under the Equality Act and Human Rights Act,” the HBC spokesperson added. “When considering enforcement action there needs to be significant damage, disruption or distress to the local area before the police can serve a section 61 notice.”

LACK OF ALTERNATIVE SITES

A spokesperson for ESCC commented that the decision whether police powers are used to redirect or instruct Travellers to leave an unauthorised encampment “rests with the police”. But a redirection could only have been to the council’s transit site at Bridies Tan in Lewes, which it maintains “for temporary stopping”. Only 7-8 spaces were available for caravans there at the time. The council has four permanent residential sites, but the spokesperson admitted that they “do not come available very often. The last one to become available was in May this year and has now been allocated.”

The police were no doubt aware of the lack of alternative provision in taking no enforcement action.

When the Travellers left on 10 July, moving on to another unauthorised site on the lower tier at Bulverhythe Recreation Ground, a five-person crew of  HBC’s street cleaners took several hours to clear the site. Asked what the cost of this was, the spokesperson said: “In the same way there is no mechanism for recovering costs incurred by visitors who leave rubbish on the beach, there is no mechanism in place for recovering the cost involved with clearing the rubbish left behind on the Old Bathing Pool. We are currently working on improving rubbish bin provision.”  

NATIONAL ISSUE

Bryan Fisher accepts that the problem is countrywide. “I believe a discussion is required at national level to prevent illegal encampments where a travellers camp exists within a local authority. It should not allow ‘days of grace’ but rather a quick-action eviction to deter the travellers from these illegal and unsocial occupations. I also feel, somehow, the Traveller community needs to realise their collective behaviour is to a large degree behind their dislike. If they co-existed better with others, and perhaps were even more aligned to sustainability and the environment, I am sure there would be less opposition to them.”

As to the local issue, he has written to HBC leader Paul Barnett asking for an urgent meeting “to try and establish ways to protect the [Old Bathing Pool] site better…It is really sad that communities need to prepare as if for a siege to protect their assets from abuse, and equally sad that Travellers make no attempt to co-exist with locals/visitors but rather intimidate them with their vehicles as they pass by. If the Travellers kept their site tidy, were quiet and well-behaved, I think local communities would be far more tolerant. As it is, they see a section of society using claims of being an oppressed minority to indulge in criminal and anti-social behaviour with impunity.”

Coincidentally, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Sussex, Katy Bourne, issued a press release on 7 July promoting “ASB Awareness Week”. The stated theme, Know your Rights is “about informing people of the help that is available from police and local authorities and to encourage victims of anti-social behaviour to report incidents…Sussex has been chosen as one of ten trailblazer sites for Immediate Justice which will see perpetrators swiftly repairing the damage and harm they have caused.”

HIP talked to a spokesperson from the Traveller movement at travellermovement.org.uk who responded to the complaints from local residents by emphasising that while troublemakers exist in any group, they should not be seen as representative of the whole community. “It’s important not to make sweeping generalisations and to look at incidents on an individual basis.”

The Government’s Planning Policy for Traveller Sites, issued in 2015, defines Travellers as: “Persons of nomadic habit of life whatever their race or origin, including such persons who on grounds only of their own or their family’s or dependants’ educational or health needs or old age have ceased to travel temporarily, but excluding members of an organised group of travelling showpeople or circus people travelling together as such.” 

Sections 61 and 62 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 empower the police to remove trespassers and their vehicles from any land without a court order. Return to the particular location within three months carries criminal sanctions.

Sections 77 and 78 of the same Act empower a local council to direct trespassers to leave land they are encamped upon, irrespective of ownership. However, the council needs to obtain a court order to enforce the direction if the trespassers don’t leave voluntarily. 

So what is this Act and how does it affect us? It was introduced to enable communities to have a greater say in their neighbourhood. A mechanism developed within the Act changed the powers of local government to facilitate the devolution of decision-making from central government control to individuals and communities. That involved creating a community body to gather and act upon community-led initiatives in collaboration with either a Parish Council or local authority – in our case, Hastings Borough Council. 

The main purpose of the meeting was to explain the reason for having a Forum; clarify the designated area; outline the plan and next steps; and put out a call for volunteers. We were also introduced to the committee members, each of whom gave a short talk: Chair, Virginia Vilela, Communications, Graham Wilkins and Treasurer Bryan Fisher, Karl Beaney (West St Leonards Councillor) and Anna Sabin.

West St Leonards Forum was established as the area’s body to work towards creating a Neighbourhood Plan, and then carry on as the representative local body. It was set up with funding from the Common Treasury and is supported by Hastings Borough Council officers to further its aims. Interrupted by Covid, this work is now being resumed with increased vigour – partly to catch up with other areas of Rother that already have Neighbourhood Plans, and Battle, which is almost there. 

The Forum also receives advice and funding from Locality, a national organisation that “supports community organisations to be strong and successful so communities thrive”. This organisation is key to the success of Neighbourhood Plans being created around the county because Locality also has access to expertise that can be accessed by those it works with, expertise that can often go beyond what is easily available to local councils.

There was a good turnout for the meeting, especially as there was another meeting going on just down the road organised by the Hastings & St Leonards Clean Water Action group. And the interesting thing is that they both came to a very similar conclusion about how to get things done. That is to help the council make the right decisions rather than criticising them for making the wrong ones – or no decisions at all. The message is that most things are possible, particularly in a town like Hastings (and St Leonards!) where there is so much expertise available.

Currently there are two sub-committees that are actively working on the project: 

Community Action, which seeks to coordinate community-led initiatives (such as managing a street’s green area or organising events); 

Neighbourhood Planning, which is currently working with Hastings Borough Council’s Planning Department as a Neighbourhood Plan is developed to complement the proposed Local Plan being produced by HBC, whilst working within that strategic plan on local ideas and priorities.

The overall aim is to gain designated status for the proposed area and have West St Leonards Forum as the responsible body, and then begin shaping West St Leonards into the area the community groups and individuals want it to be.

• For more information visit www.weststleonards.org.uk, www.rother.gov.uk (search neighbourhood plan)
and https://locality.org.uk

Bryan is particularly concerned about West St Leonards: “If HBC have their way, Bulverhythe fields, Filsham valley, and the Old Bathing Pool site will either disappear or be seriously altered as open spaces when housing is placed upon them. So, consider if the pandemic arrived in 2025 not 2020 – where would those in West St Leonards go to exercise? 

“Everyone now appreciates the benefits of exercise and the huge contribution open spaces make towards wellbeing,” says Bryan. “Franklin D Roosevelt is quoted as saying ‘Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people’, but he could equally have been talking about parks, fields and even promenades!”

He is beginning to think that it would take a “Road to Damascus revelation” for Hastings Borough Council (HBC) to acknowledge the overwhelming opposition to the housing developments on Bulverhythe’s flood plain and the Old Bathing Pool (also a designated flood plain). “HBC seems more intent upon following the Road to Nowhere!” he says.

Also of concern is that West St Leonards was neglected in decisions made at a local level by the Town Deal Board. “In 2020 local people and community groups were invited at short notice by an HBC-created Town Deal Board to submit project plans to be awarded UK government funding. I believe there were 155 submissions, which is impressive given the short notice. However, every submission from West St Leonards was rejected, including the innovative ‘Science-on-Sea’ project.”

And it’s not for want of trying. West St Leonards Forum undertook a 2,500 resident questionnaire and, under challenging Covid-19 restrictions, canvassed local businesses as initial steps in their move to create a Neighbourhood Plan that aligns to HBC’s Local Plan. “For months we have been trying to get some engagement from HBC to build the Neighbourhood Plan together, but requests have always been side-lined,” says Bryan. 

Finally, Bryan reminds local residents to vote in the local council election on Thursday 6th May, being held despite the pandemic. “If you care about the local area you will want to select a councillor who will match your aspirations – whether that be in regard to the environment, regeneration, employment, or better accounting on projects.”

Since October last year, Hastings Borough Council (HBC) has been insisting that it is on the point of signing a lease agreement with developers for the building of a mix of new housing and leisure facilities on the site of the former bathing pool at West Marina. Local community groups in West St Leonards have opposed the projected development from the outset. Now, with the council still apparently uncommitted legally – though telling HIP two months ago that completion of the lease “remains a priority and will be progressed” – its opponents have taken a bold step that they hope will outflank it. A joint submission has been made by West St Leonards Forum, Save Our Bathing Site (SOBS) and West Marina Org, not to the council but to the Hastings Town Deal Board with both temporary and more permanent plans to turn the site into a “prime seafront location for leisure and recreation”. The aim is to gain funding for an alternative development that avoids HBC’s house-building scheme by drawing on a share of the potential £25m Town Deal fund.

PICTURE: Dave Young

Alert readers will recall that this fund was allocated to the borough of Hastings last autumn by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) as one of 101 towns identified that need “levelling up”, in the words of PM Boris Johnson. It is to be administered not by the borough council but by a ‘Town Deal Board’, which the council was required to convene but would not control. 

Earlier this year the Board declared its intent to “design a programme, through which we will ensure we hear directly from our communities, including those which are within the most deprived wards, with regards to their regeneration priorities.

“If you have an idea or a project proposal for the Town Deal, we want to know about it!

“Please complete our Expression of Interest form and a member of the team will be in contact to discuss it further.”

PICTURE: Dave Young

The West St Leonards groups are taking the Board at their word. According to Bryan Fisher of the Forum group, their proposal draws on ideas for activities and facilities on the bathing pool site made over the years, and also a survey and forums with locals earlier this year. It involves “a re-vamp and revival of West Marina”, centred upon the pool site, West Marina Gardens, the Bo Peep parade and West St Leonards Station “as a fully rounded destination for residents and visitors”.

Mr Fisher says: “Local community organisations, no matter how enthusiastic and experienced their members, are often criticised for ‘not doing enough’ or ‘not offering solutions’. The latter is often aimed at organisations focusing upon protests against unwanted or ill-thought out plans – usually by either local or central government… Of course local community organisations do not have salaried employees to do their bidding, or consultants working on juicy contracts; but instead rely upon the expertise and enthusiasm of individuals. So it is nice to tell everyone about our exciting plans. 

“If the project is accepted in principle by the Town Deal Board, then there will be a lot more engagement about the precise detail. A locally based management board and project manager is proposed.”

So will the Hastings Town Deal Board show more interest than HBC has done? That would seem to depend on its individual members.

Will the Hastings Town Deal Board show more interest than HBC has done? That would seem to depend on its individual members 

Under MHCLG direction the Board has been required to include not only the local constituency MP and politicians from all levels of local government, but also representatives of local business, of “anchor institutions” of the town such as colleges, health providers and cultural bodies, and – most difficult to identify – of the community. 

The Town Deal Prospectus issued by the MHCLG in November declared: “Each town will decide how best to involve their local community… Communities should have a meaningful role in decision-making for the future of their town, and Town Deal Boards should draw on the local knowledge and insight that communities can provide on the barriers to driving local growth and productivity. We expect this to be achieved by including community representatives from prominent local civic and faith organisations in the governance structure, such as representatives from local community forums, voluntary and community sector organisations, or Councils of the Voluntary Sector.”

The time frame for appointing and convening the Board was extremely limited. Despite the intervening Christmas and New Year holidays, all Board members had to be identified and enrolled before the end of January. There was little opportunity to cast the net wide and, as Cllr Peter Chowney, then leader of HBC, remarked unguardedly in a council meeting at that time, the appointments were likely to be of “the usual suspects”. The 21 appointees – see list below – are indeed leading public figures in the town, ranging through political leaders and chief executives of both East Sussex County Council and HBC, business entrepreneurs such as Jess Steele and Rich Moore, and cultural figures such as Liz Gilmore of Hastings Contemporary art gallery. Steve Manwaring of Hastings Voluntary Action and Carole Dixon of Hastings Community Network (who is one of two co-Chairs) might be felt to represent smaller community groups in the town.

Few, if any, of the 21 look at first glance to have much connection with communities in West St Leonards. It is fair to recall that MP Sally-Ann Hart went on record during the November/December parliamentary election campaign as opposing the council’s housing development plan at the bathing pool site and supporting alternative ideas of leisure and tourism facilities there. But whether her support will carry weight in what looks like a generally left-leaning body remains to be seen.

Be that as it may, Mr Fisher and his team are asking individuals who support their proposals to write accordingly to HBC’s Managing Director Jane Hartnell and/or East Sussex County Council CEO Becky Shaw, both Board members. Relevant emails are jhartnell@hastings.gov.uk and becky.shaw@eastsussex.gov.uk 

The next meeting of the Board is due to take place on 17th September at HBC’s offices in Muriel Matters House. Its full and final proposals to the MHCLG to secure the £25m funding for Hastings must be submitted by 31st January next year.

PICTURE: Dave Young

At a Cabinet meeting on Monday evening, Hastings Borough Council, which owns the land, nodded through a recommendation from its Financial Services and Revenues department to publish a formal notice of intended disposal for purposes of development. On 4 March the Cabinet will review Heads of Terms negotiated between its agents Carter Jonas and the preferred developers, Sunley and County Gate Properties. Their plans have not been published, but they are believed to allow for the building of over 150 houses as well as of some commercial units and an upmarket camping facility. If approved, council officers will then be directed to proceed to exchange of contracts for the sale to the developers of a long lease of the site. Development will still be dependent upon topographical and other surveys to be carried out by these purchasers, and also on planning permission being applied for successfully over the following year. They would then have another 12 months to commence building works, and a maximum of four more years to complete them.

Local residents, who have banded together in a loose association calling themselves the West Marina Group, are far from happy. Their chair Virginia Vilela, who lives in Seaside Road, emphasises that they do not object in principle to development of the site, but complains that the council has adopted a secretive procedure with the aim of encouraging the maximum number of housing units to be built there without any positive or meaningful engagement within the neighbourhood, without taking due consideration of what the local infrastructure can cope with, and ignoring the wider opportunities now becoming available in the immediate vicinity. Two years ago a scheme prepared by Carter Jonas, which proposed 120 housing units, was put forward at a public meeting held at the Royal Victoria Hotel and widely condemned as giving rise to unreasonable density. Clearly the current scheme goes denser.

HBC lead councillor Peter Chowney has acknowledged that the council is currently interested in acquiring two neighbouring sites, formerly occupied respectively by the Ministry of Defence and by Stamco, with a view to potential development there too. These sites are recognised to carry flood risks from the Combe river that may inhibit house-building. But so does the open space at issue: indeed the centre of this site accommodates a Southern Water storm water overflow tank, which will have to remain where it is. Ms Vilela argues that the council should defer any binding contract for building on the West Marina site alone until a comprehensive plan is formulated for the whole area. 

As to lack of transparency, Cllr Chowney has written to Ms Vilela saying that it will be up to the purchasers “to conduct future consultations with much more detailed proposals”, but that these “are in effect their intellectual copyright, which they won’t want to share until the council has appointed them”. He was naturally keen to stress, however, that there will be “a requirement for 25% social housing anyway, whatever the scheme”.

So there you have it. The council has decided without any effective discussion (and, it should be noted, with cross-party agreement) to go forward with the sale, leaving any consultation with the local community to be addressed at the planning stage. And who will determine what permission is in due course granted? The council itself, of course, knowing that at that point any refusal could have serious costs consequences if it were overturned on appeal.