Hastings Green Party has delivered a petition of more than 1,100 signatures calling on Hastings Borough Council (HBC) to reject plans for a harbour development in the town.

The petition was handed to Hastings Mayor Nigel Sinden earlier today at Rock-a-Nore, where the proposed harbour would be built. Green Party deputy leader Amelia Womack was in town to show her support for the campaign against the development.

The harbour plans, put forward last autumn by the Hastings Harbour Quarter company, would include a marina complex and hundreds of new homes on a platform in the sea at Rock-a-Nore.

The Green Party’s petition calls on HBC to cease co-operation with Hastings Harbour Quarter. Th petition says: “We believe this project would do irrevocable harm to some of the most precious assets of Hastings… It would destroy the character of one of the best loved parts of our town. The site is completely inappropriate for such a massive development and the housing would almost certainly be unaffordable to local people.”

Julia Hilton, Hastings Green Party spokesperson, said: “Hastings Green Party knows from conversations locally that the harbour proposal is massively unpopular and we are proud to have taken the lead in opposing it. We will continue to oppose it, and to be a voice for the community, calling for transparency around all major planning decisions and proper engagement with the people of Hastings about how we create a vision for this town. We need to find ways to bring ideas and solutions to the problems of this town from the bottom up, listening to this community, not top down from secretive developers working behind closed doors.”