Work to begin on council’s eco-friendly house of straw

Local residents are ‘excited’ about the prospect of the new state-of-the-art environmentally friendly straw bale built visitor centre planned for Hastings Country Park. That was the message from Councillor Andy Batsford when Hastings Borough Council’s (HBC) cabinet members met on Monday night and were asked to give the go-ahead for work on the visitor centre […]

UPDATED – Pier to reopen on Thursday

Hastings Pier will reopen on Thursday its owners announced this afternoon saying they ‘apologise for any inconvenience’ and ‘look forward to welcoming you back’. Just a day ago Amber Rudd’s press team sent out a press release headlined “Pier to open for Christmas” but gave no further detail about reopening plans. Talking about her visit to […]

Hastings on YouTube – just what you need on a wet and windy day

With the weather forecast looking bleak for the remainder of the weekend we’re recommending hibernating in front of a roaring fire with a mug – or a glass – of your favourite tipple and settling down to a selection of videos all with Hastings at their centre. If the weather stays the way it is, […]

Grotbusters – making a visible difference to a ‘lovely town’

Hastings Borough Council’s (HBC) ‘grotbusting’ team have been in action again, resulting in the owners of two rundown buildings pleading guilty in court. The council started its Grotbuster campaign in 2000 targeting run down or derelict buildings and structures for improvement. So far, 880 have been improved, 33 so far this year, winning the council […]

The Police – Over-stretched and overwhelmed by ‘broken’ mental health system

The police cannot be expected to pick up the pieces of a ‘broken mental health system’. That’s the headline finding of a report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) published earlier this week. Hastings In Focus understands that an increasing amount of local officer’s time is spent dealing with people […]

Rudd ‘passionate’ about improvements to rail service

The Marshlink Community Rail Partnership (CRP) – part of the Sussex Community Rail Partnership – held its annual general meeting in Rye on Friday. A packed town hall heard presentations from Kevin ‘Taff’ Barry, the Marshlink community rail development officer, Amber Rudd MP, Angie Doll, passenger services director for Southern and Gatwick Express, Andrew Wood, […]

‘If the pier is in good shape it says the town is in good shape’

From the video vault With padlocks firmly securing the gates of Hastings Pier this week after a fire at the weekend we found this film on YouTube which looks at the aftermath of the 2010 fire and community efforts to bring the pier back to life. Re: A Pier is the work of film maker […]

Campaign encourages more women to stand for public office

Hastings student Georgia Harrison was at the forefront of a national campaign last week when she met her local MP in the Palace of Westminster. Amber Rudd had asked Georgia, a Hastings student at Sussex Coast College, to join her in Parliament for the #AskHerToStand day. The event is aimed at trying to get more […]

Could your photographic skills win you £200?

Have you taken a photograph that captures the very essence of 1066 country? If you have it could win you up to £200. Have you snapped a great image of Hastings Pier, views from the East or West Hills, the fishing fleet, the harbour arm, Jack in the Green or any one of many other […]