Local Tories have laid down a challenge to rival political parties to put public safety before party politics and avoid door-to-door canvassing while campaigning for May’s local elections. A spokesman for the party said yesterday: “Putting resident’s safety before party politics, the Hastings and Rye Conservative Association has taken the decision not to allow their […]
The straw built visitor centre on Hastings Country Park will form part of the Labour run council’s legacy to the town and will be ’emblamatic’ of the sustainable architecture of the future. That was the view of Councillor Warren Davies when he spoke at Tuesday night’s meeting of Hastings Borough Council (HBC). “The visitor centre […]
Civic leaders in Hiroshima and Nagasaki will shortly hear from their counterparts in Hastings. Last week’s full council meeting saw Labour members of Hastings Borough Council (HBC) give their full support to a motion from Councillor Maya Evans that called on HBC to write to the two cities to show, ‘solidarity and friendship’. Patriotic duty […]
Stuart Baillie has worked in the newspaper industry for almost 40 years and in that time he has seen the willingness of our public servants to speak publicly evaporate. Here he recalls the ‘halcyon days’ when the local MP was just a phone call away and compares that with his efforts to get Hastings Borough […]
The August the Eat Out to Help Out scheme delivered nearly 100,000 discounted meals across Hastings and Rye. The Government backed scheme was designed to encourage people back out to our restaurants, pubs and bars to get those businesses back on their feet after they had been forced to close as a result of the […]
‘I am not sure that when residents pay their council tax they understand they are shareholders in a commercial property investment company.’ One of the most read stories on Hastings In Focus this week has been the threat of closure that is once again hanging over Debenhams. It’s a sign of the times and a […]
Criticism is mounting over what is being described as a lack of transparency and willingness to communicate at Hastings Borough Council (HBC). The criticism is not just coming from politicians but from campaigners, former councillors and members of the public too. Liberal Democrat Nick Perry says: “I am increasingly aware from various different local sources […]
The fragile nature of the commercial property market was laid bare yesterday when a number of high-profile, high street names called in administrators. Among those was the Harveys furniture group. While there is no Harveys store in Hastings its subsidiary Bensons for Beds is a tenant of Hastings Borough Council in Bexhill Road. The chain, […]
Why the collapse of one of the UK’s biggest property companies should ring warning bells in Muriel Matters House… Two years ago Hastings Borough Council’s (HBC) rush to invest in commercial property was described as a ‘ticking time bomb of over extended borrowing’. In the two years since, many voices both local and national have […]
