Famously Fantastic!

Councillors Jeremy Birch and Peter Chowney 

as pirates

If we’re now Famously Hastings then 2012 has truly been famously fantastic. 

2012 was the year when the world record for people dressed as pirates gathered in one place came home to Hastings – 14,231 pirates in all.  And all our other famous festivals went ahead as successfully as ever from Jack-in-the-Green in May to the bonfire procession in October. And we added another mass celebration with 50,000 turning out to greet the Olympic torch.

2012 was the year that the Jerwood Gallery opened its doors, offering to locals and visitors alike the best collection of 20^th and 21^st century art outside London. But it is also playing a major part in improving the external image of Hastings – which is key to attracting higher spend visitors in larger numbers, enticing people to move here or encouraging businesses to invest in a town so obviously on the way up.

2012 was the year Stade Saturdays were launched. The Stade Open Space was home to a performance big or small every Saturday night from May to September. Who can forget being chased over the site by giant sea creatures as part of the massive Pi Leau performance? On other nights we listened to string quartet or sea shanty singers.

2012 was the year of our first herring fairin November to complement our annual seafood and wine festival in September, which itself was the most successful yet. Let’s hope we can celebrate herring annually too.

2012 was the year that all the hard work ofthe Pier campaigners paid off with an £11.4 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to start restoring Hastings Pier as a major attraction.

2012 was the year that the St Leonards town team got off the ground with great plans to develop a separate attractive town centre with the Very St Leonards slogan but still as part of our overall Famously Hastings brand. 

And 2012 was the year that finished with Hastings United reaching the third round of the FA Cup - the furthest they have ever got in their present incarnation, great for their fans and for the club’s balance sheet.

So what a year for our town – let’s see what 2013 famously brings.

Council Tax Benefits Crisis

Council tax benefit is changing and we have been consulting with local people about just what those changes may be. Currently Hastings Borough Council pays out over £11million per year in Council Tax Benefit to those people who are eligible and the government reimburses us. The system is demand led and therefore the more people who qualify, the more subsidy the government gives us.

Starting from next April, this is going to change. The government will give the council a fixed amount based on this year’s spend less 10%. If more residents become eligible for support there is no additional money to help them – we will have to find it ourselves. Also the 10% cut – around £1 million – will have to be found locally just as mainstream council budgets are being cut back with government grants reducing.

So we have been working hard to look at every council tax discount (except the single persons discount which the government has ruled must not be touched) to see if that can help bridge the 10% benefit gap.

We have consulted on scrapping the 10% discount on second homes (71% agreed), charging owners of properties left empty for two years or more an extra 50% (71% agreed), cut the exemption for empty properties under repair from 12 to six months ((79% agreed), reduce the discount on empty unfurnished properties from 6 months to one month (67% agreed)

But changing these exemptions and discounts will only close half the financial gap. So unfortunately we have had to propose changes to how people’s benefits are calculated.The changes we consulted on included a maximum payment of £20 per week, a minimum of £5, changes to how we treat other people in the household and the removal of second adult rebate. We also considered cutting the savings someone may have in the bank and still be eligible to council tax benefit from £16,000 to £6,000 (50% agreed).

Potentially all this would affect the ordinary lower income person. And if their benefit goes down and they have to pay some more council tax it could affect the council’s total council tax income meaning we might have less to spend on services.

Now at the eleventh hour the government has offered local councils £100 million back from the £400 million it will save from cutting the total council tax benefit payments by 10%. Hastings is being offered £278,000.

The offer is only for one year and is given with certain conditions, particularly that no claimant who currently has nothing to pay should have any more than 8.5% of their council tax bill to pay. Well just the reduction in the maximum of £20 per week would have affected some claimants by more than 8.5%.

Although the council may have to find some money itself to balance the figures, my view is we should take the government’s offer. We will still make all the discount and exemption changes but we will only need to implement the more limited impact benefit changes like the £5 minimum. Then we will have to see where we are again in 12 months time.

The council will take the final decision early in the New Year – but at least for this year many of our local claimants can enjoy a less worried Xmas break.

Famously Attractive

 

Opening of the Jerwood Gallery

 “I hadn't realised how lovely Hastings is.” 

That was how Masterchef celebrity Greg Wallace summed up his visit to the Seafood and Wine festival in September.” Let’s hope he now tells everyone else.

Nick Roe writing in the Times about the Great British Weekend waxed lyrical. “A spanking new art gallery has opened on the seafront, right in the middle of fish-and-chip territory, which sounds like a decisive change in the town's cultural style. A word about St Leonards: it's a westward extension of Hastings and was once quite grand but somehow ended up as a faintly seedy patchwork of rented homes set amid occasionally majestic old houses. The feeling nowadays, however, is of an area that is moving back up again.”

I agree Nick the whole borough is moving up, famously; and St Leonards is part of that movement. Tom Chesshyre writing in the Guardian Weekend about Let's Move To ...Hastings Old Town says the town “is pretty much Tom's Ideal Place, with all the things I like squished into a fold on the sea between the imaginatively titled East Hill and West Hill: faint melancholy; a smashing higgledy crush of architecture - Tudor, seaside stucco, you name it; the amazing Electric cinema that shows The Creature From The Black Lagoon; magnificent tea shops; magnificent (independent) shops; two funiculars; fishmongers and fishermen galore; a miniature railway! Plus a few special things of its own, such as the spooky, surreal, monolithic net huts on the beach, the Jerwood art gallery hard on the shingle next door, an annual Pirate Day and the home of Aleister Crowley. And it's not a squillion pounds to live there.”

These latest endorsements give just a flavour of how our town is increasingly being viewed from outside and it’s not just in the broadsheet papers either. 

The Mirror ran a story by Gill Murr about an enjoyable caravan holiday at Combe Haven. When the family ventured out they “started on the East Hill Lift, the ­steepest funicular railway in Britain and one of two in Hastings, for a spectacular view over the long ­shingle beach known as the Stade. Little stalls selling the day’s catch add to the salty sea dog atmosphere. One of the sheds forms part of the Hastings Fishermen’s Museum, a fascinating place crammed full of old photos and memorabilia.”

We couldn’t pay for positive coverage like this. The town is pitching itself to its regular visitors but clearly to a new audience too and we have the attractions – both natural and created – to do it. We just need the word to spread as wide as possible.

Dark clouds....

Councillor Jeremy Birch in conversation with residents

As Summer fades blue skies give way to the dark clouds hanging over the council’s finances. Our Autumn will be spent preparing for next year’s budget and talking to local people and businesses about the council services they value the most and would least like to see cut.

For next financial year starting on 1stApril 2013 the full impact of the government’s 50% reduction in grant to the council will have worked its way through. We are looking at a gaping hole of £2.5 million in our budget for 2013-14.

What have we done already? We have restructured our senior staff team saving £375,000 a year. We have retendered our two largest contracts – grounds maintenance and waste and recycling – and between them could be saving over £900,000 each year. We've continued with our internal efficiency drives and are saving money on things like electricity, printing, and concentrating our staff in one main building. We have had to cut our support to the voluntary sector by 8.8% and we will be reviewing the generous support we give to charities and other organisations with their business rates.

We are now having to look at every aspect of our  activity and asking not how much have we traditionally spent on them but rather if we were setting up Hastings Borough Council for the first time how much would we allocate to those activities.

What is clear though is the council can’t continue to do all the things it currently does but we want the input from the town before making final decisions.

So how can you get involved? Two years ago we held a Big Conversation writing to every household in the town. That itself has a significant cost so this year Another Conversation will be a little different.

You can fill in this survey to tell us which from a list of council services are the real priorities. If you belong to an organisation like a residents’ association we will be happy to come along and speak to your members and talk through the options. You can also speak to me in person at one of our 'drop-ins' in Committee Room 3 at the Town Hall on:

• Tuesday,  23rd October, from 9-11am
• Wednesday, 24th October, from 2-4pm

Of course, you can also leave a comment on this blog. In addition, we will be setting up some focus groups where we will select hopefully a representative mix of local residents to talk in more detail about the financial challenge and how we might tackle it.

This is certainly the most difficult financial position any of us in the council has ever had to deal with and we are being forced to make some very difficult decisions.

Hastings: still the place to be

Council Leader and Deputy Leader
as you've never seen them before!
 

Hastings sizzling summer of success is followed by a sultry September. I know much of this year’s summer was more sodden than sizzling and that did have an effect on visitors, certainly when it came to them enjoying outdoor attractions.

Incredibly the rain held off for the Olympic torch, Pirate Day and the carnival and some businesses had their busiest days ever. Then in August the weather did perk up a bit. Overall 20,000 more cars used the seafront car parks this summer compared to last year. So all in all the summer was a success.

Now September too can attract visitors to the town and offer entertainment and interest for all of us who live here.

The Heritage Open Days kick the month off. There will be guided walks, talks and opportunities to go inside some of the heritage gems amongst our local buildings. Burtons St Leonards, the Old Town, several of our heritage churches will all be displaying their wares.

 

There is even a visit to the ‘hidden town hall’......

Then, running for three weeks in September, there is the Coastal Currents arts festival. Coastal Currents is part of the town's regular calendar events. It gives a chance to showcase many of our local artists as well as to challenge us all with something new. Its name is growing as is that of Hastings - famously artistic.

There will be the usual open studios weekends on 15-16^th and 22-23^rd September when we get the chance to visit artists in their workspaces, chat to them about their inspiration and even buy their work.

A really special event for the festival will be on 23^rd September with the unveiling of a new, permanent art feature called My Heart belongs to Hastings. Managed by art group Strange Cargo who we have wanted to do work in Hastings for some time it is based on ordinary people decorating and personalising a padlock and then attaching it to a structure on the shoreline.

And then of course September wouldn’t be September in Hastings without the Seafood and Wine Festival which will again attract thousands on the weekend of 15-16^th September. All the best of local produce and local providers and culinary experts; where else would anyone want to be that weekend?

In September, if a man is tired of Hastings, he is tired of life.

Safer Hastings

I always get concerned when I read about robberies or attacks in our town. It’s not just the nasty experience that someone has been put through but I worry will this deter people visiting Hastings or moving here.

So when I read about an unpleasant mugging of some foreign students staying in the town I asked for the facts. Of course statistics can never compensate the students who were picked on but the facts are that foreign students are safer than ever in Hastings.

There were about 40 incidents in 2009, 28 in 2011 and just 11 so far this year. We used to worry too about alcohol-related assaults and unruly behaviour on Friday and Saturdays in the town centre. We were worried that Hastings might be worse than other towns so people might choose to go there. It turns out now that between April and July Eastbourne126 such incident (37.4 per 1,000 residents) and Hastings 98 (29.1 per thousand).

As for figures for all crimes in the town our local police commander recently reported that “this year so far has seen further reductions in crime compared to this time last year 15 % reduction in total crime, this equates to 339 fewer victims of crime.”

So is every crime one too many - yes; is it a nasty experience for the victim  - all too often yes; is Hastings generally a safe place to live, study in or to visit - yes. Let’s all work hard to keep it that way.

Famously Crazy

Jeremy Birch at the Olympic Torch relay event

What a week; what a success for Hastings. First the Olympic torch came to town and 50,000 people turned out to watch. Then the first world record of UK 2012 was broken not at the Olympic Stadium but on Hastings beach – the largest number of people dressed as pirates gathered in one place. And 14,231 is some record now to be beaten.

All this showed the very best of Hastings. Ordinary families came out to enjoy themselves and plenty came from outside the town attracted in by our events and spending their money in our shops and businesses. It was good fun and good for our economy.

And it was the community that was responsible for helping to make these events go so well. The torch day events in Grosvenor Gardens and the town centre were organised by local people and local businesses and of course the St Leonards festival held to coincide with the torch has always been a great community event.

As for pirate day it was local organisers and business support that put the whole day together with such fantastic results. We say Hastings if famous for its history and for its culture it’s also famously fun and famously crazy – and that was there for all to see on pirate day. The people who stood out as looking different were those not dressed as pirates!

We always do big outdoor events well as the bonfire and Jack in the Green prove. So Hastings was the natural place for the Olympic torch to stay overnight and the best place to break quirky world records.

Anyone looking to move to a new town, or for a place to invest or to become a student will have had a chance to see Hastings at its best and hopefully to agree that this is the place for them. You can’t put a value on the good publicity we received over the torch and pirate week.

As for those of use who are resident here already – who would want to live anywhere else?

For whose benefit?

Councillor Jeremy Birch out talking to residents

I am worried about the impact changes in benefits may have on local residents and on Hastings Borough Council which plays a major part in administering them.

At the local government conference I recently attended it was a major talking point and amongst councils in East Sussex it is taking up a fair bit of our collective time.

Let’s start with what we all agree on. We all agree benefits should be paid only to those who genuinely are entitled to them – for the council currently that is the payment of housing benefit and council tax benefit.

We all agree being employed is best and as a council we are doing all we can to encourage more jobs in the town. We all agree that benefits shouldn’t be a disincentive to take up employment opportunities.

So what am I worried about?

First housing benefit: it has already been capped for larger households and for all private sector tenants, the rate is now based on the lowest 30% of rents in the area not 50% as was previously the case. From January 2012, the age at which younger people are restricted to housing benefit for a single room in a shared house rather than a one-bed flat has been raised from 25 to 35 years old. That can mean a difference of up to £30 per week.

And next year, many working age tenants in larger social housing properties will find their benefit restricted to the size of property they are deemed to need; even if it has been their family home for many years.

From October 2013 the council will no longer be responsible for processing housing benefit for new customers and by 2017 all existing customers will have transferred to universal credit. The DWP are making the assumption that the majority of claims for universal credit will be done on-line and not through face to face appointments.

However, the council will still be responsible for helping residents to reduce their council tax bills through various discounts. Currently Hastings Borough Council pays out about £11million per year in Council Tax Benefit to those people who are eligible and the government reimburses us. The system is demand led and therefore the more people who qualify, the more subsidy the government gives us.

From April 2013 this is going to change. Starting next year, the government will give the council a fixed amount based on this year’s spend less 10%. To balance the books there may have to be a cut to the amount of benefit paid out, especially as the government has ruled that older people’s council tax benefit should be protected, giving us less money to spend on the working age group.

We are working hard to look at every council tax discount (except the single persons discount which the government has ruled must not be touched) to see if that can help bridge the 10% benefit gap.

Potentially this will affect the ordinary lower income person and if their benefit goes down and they have to pay some more council tax it may affect the council’s total council tax income meaning we might have less to spend on services.

I am especially worried that the ordinary residents who are affected by all these changes don’t yet fully realise what is coming.

Famously Hastings?

Jeremy Birch marching with the chimney sweeps
 in the famous Jack in the Green procession

Speaking to a Belgian delegate at a recent European meeting the council hosted he said to me: “Of course we all know about Hastings; one thousand and sixty six”. 1066 and the Battle of Hastings was what he was referring to. And there’s no getting away from it we are famous as a result of the battle and its place in the history of the country, our language, our culture, our legal system etc. Perhaps we need to do more within the town to celebrate and to interpret what happened 946 years ago.

But we are famous for a lot more than just one historical event, however significant it was.

The first television image was produced here by Logie Baird. The personally flawed but environmentally committed Grey Owl was a son of Hastings. Robert Tressell author of the first socialist novel and Muriel Matters – the first woman to speak in Parliament albeit heckling from the gallery – lived in Hastings.

Alan Turing, the mathematical genius who cracked the Nazi Enigma code grew up here. We are just putting up a blue plaque on his old home. The internationally acclaimed avant garde artists Dinos and Jake Chapman were born and bred here.

Walk around the town you can see the fantastic architectural heritage we have of many different eras – a medieval Old Town, Pelham Crescent and Burtons St Leonards from the 19^th century and of course the 1930s modernist Marine Court. Any of these could make Hastings famous. And of course we have the largest beach-drawn fishing fleet in the country (and the best fish).

Our history, our heritage buildings, our traditional seaside character and our cultural and artistic side – these are what makes Hastings what it is and what gives us our renown.

And we haven’t stopped making our name known and spreading our fame far and wide.

In the Jerwood Gallery we have one of the best collections of British 20^th and 21^st century art anywhere. With the strong artistic community living here already we are becoming a cultural centre on the coast.

We are well known for our lively even quirky street processions. From Jack in the Green with bikers thrown in to the huge Bonfire Hastings is known for its events. And we are soon to reclaim our world record for the largest number of people dressed as pirates gathered in one place.

But as I go to meetings regionally and nationally people I meet have also heard of our regeneration programme. They know something is going on in Hastings and increasingly our town is on their radar. The story about our quality office space and new environmental business parks, about our advanced engineering and modern businesses is also being heard.

There’s certainly a LOT more to Hastings than 1066 and a lot more to attract people and businesses to the town. What are we most famous for – what do you think. Perhaps we are just famously Hastings.

Hastings Deserves a Medal

Councillor Jeremy  Birch at the Olympic Stadium

Now the excitement of the election is over it is back to business – trying to improve the appearance, the prosperity and the quality of life for Hastings. I have been given the privilege of continuing to lead Hastings Borough Council and intend that it should carry on being an interventionist and highly committed local authority. We have a plan of action for Hastings and will rightly be held to account by local people on the extent to which we carry it through. But away from elections and policy pledges there is a whole Summer of excitement ahead for all of us in the town. May Day has kicked us off with another stunning Jack in the Green procession and celebration. Now every Saturday evening till the Autumn there is a programme of free performances on the Stade open space – Stade Saturdays. Some will be real spectaculars, some smaller more intimate shows. But they will all be worth seeing. Then Tuesday 17^th July will see the Olympic Torch come to Hastings – the only East Sussex town where it will stay overnight with a full ceremony and entertainment. Thousands will come for a great family evening out. But Torch Week will culminate on Sunday 22^nd when Britain will record its first world record of 2012 – the largest number of pirates gathered together in one place. And Pirate Day will be accompanied by a fly-past by the Red Arrows – a day not to be missed. Then of course there is the Old TownCarnival in August, the Coastal Currents arts festival in early September and the Seafood and Wine Festival later that month. Hastings Borough Council is proud to be involved in all these events – let’s make the most of them.

Hastings - cultural capital of the coast?

Opening the Jerwood Gallery

Over 2,000 visitors over the first two days of being open – not a bad start for the Jerwood Gallery in Hastings. And on the evening of its first day 850 gathered on the Stade open space – despite the rain – to enjoy a performance by Fisherman’s Friends, the nationally acclaimed sea shanty singers.

What will all this really mean for Hastings? What is the quality national press saying about us?

“Art-lovers are preparing to hot foot it down to the Jerwood Gallery…the latest cultural jewel in a south coast necklace,” said the Sunday Times. “The Jerwood is a beautiful addition to the many juxtapositions – of cliff and sheds, work and distraction, ancient castle and seaside tat – that make this part of the coastline what it is,” wrote the Sunday Observer. “The art itself is wonderful. Most of the pieces are quite small and bear proper scrutiny. A number of the artists shown have worked in St Ives in Cornwall, home to a thriving artistic community and a branch of the Tate, so some of their subjects fit the Hastings seaside setting, too,” commented the Economist,

Hastings couldn’t afford to buy positive national publicity like this.

The Turner Contemporary gallery in Margate hit its annual visitor target in its first four months; Jerwood has similar potential.

 So for us it means on top of our heritage, or history, our natural setting, our promenade, our traditional seaside attractions – all the things that currently bring visitors here – we will now have a nationally significant cultural facility too.

Isn’t likely that some of those cultural visitors may want to stay for a long weekend or those short breaks that we have always been keen to encourage? That will be good news for local businesses, a number of whom are preparing for just this opportunity.

But all those positive images of Hastings don’t just have the potential to attract additional visitors; they will play their part in improving the image of our town. Businesses looking to relocate, people looking to move home, students considering where to study – they are all being given a glimpse of a Hastings that is improving, that has diverse attractions for them.

And Jerwood, alongside our many artists and cultural activists already in the town, can also make a difference to the outlook of us – the people of Hastings.

My first visit to the gallery was in the company of 50 schoolchildren. It was before there were any paintings on the walls. Those youngsters from every school in the town will be charting the progress of the gallery. But they will also be its ambassadors into their schools, into their own homes and into their communities.

They can help wet the appetites of those of us who are not in the habit of visiting galleries. Jerwood can help raise the cultural sights of Hastings people, raise all of our appreciation of what is best in art and help improve educational attainment among our children.

They were legitimately different views held about this gallery during all the discussions about whether it should go ahead. Now it is here I am sure everyone will want to make the best of it. Councillors and business people in other towns talk to me enviously about the opportunity this is bringing to Hastings.

A budget leap forward

It’s a leap year; so how did Hastings councillors spend the extra day - debating the budget and plan for the next 12 months. February 29th may only come around once every four years but council budget-setting meetings come round every year and they are never easy.


There is never enough money to do all the things we want to do. Our worry currently is whether we will have enough money going forward to do all the things we have to do.

Whatever any of us think about the government’s deficit-reduction programme local councils are suffering more than other parts of the public sector, according to Price Waterhouse Cooper. And within that, according to the Joseph Rowntree Trust, poorer councils are being hit harder than the more affluent areas. Hastings is in the top 12 for the largest percentage reduction in its revenue spending power.

The budget reports placed before councillors by our finance officers showed a 50% cut in government revenue support to the council between 2010 and 2013. For councillors and council officers this is an unprecedented reduction in income.

The toughest budget is yet to come. In a year’s time the council loses its £2 million transition grant given to those 12 most badly affected councils to help cope a little more gradually with the reductions.

Much of the budget we set on 29th February was a continuation of last year’s when 40 council posts were lost and other cuts in spending brought in. So it was little easier this time around but there was not much leeway for growth

However, I was able to recommend that the council forgoes the extra income it could gain by putting up car park charges. Town centres and the retail industry are in a fragile state at the moment, so for the coming year we will not raise our car park charges as jobs and the economy are so important. But we will have to see where we are in 12 months time.

As to the council tax I recommended the council accept the government’s council tax freeze grant which covers the equivalent of a 2.5% council tax rise. With all four levying authorities accepting the freeze grant the average Hastings household will save about £40 a year.

But the grant is only for a year whereas if the council tax went up that extra income would come in every year. So in 12 months time the cliff edge we are facing will be higher.

Even in these difficult times the council was able to agree some additional spending like £10,000 to assist with the Olympic Torch celebrations and £5,000 for a guide on the disability access of shops, cafes and bars.

The council also approved capital funds to compulsorily purchase and demolish the Malvern Pub, continue the compulsory purchase of empty properties, support the project to restore Hastings Pier, refurbish council-owned factory units and to improve the appearance of the town centre.

So no increase in council tax and no increase in charges for council car parks are the key headlines from the budget-setting meeting. But there really is a dark cloud hanging over our finances. So almost immediately we have to move on to preparing for future budgets, reviewing every area of our activity – asking ourselves can we deliver each service differently and more efficiently or even can we afford to deliver it all.

Jobs - the top priority

Launching the 100 apprentices in 100 days campaign

Charles Dickens was once seen in Yates in the town centre. Of course it was 1861 and it wasn’t Yates then but the Municipal Hall. He was doing a public reading of extracts from his books.


Now we are celebrating 200 years since his birth the question is being asked would he recognise some of the social issues of today. What would he say about bankers’ bonuses or rising unemployment, particularly among young people?

Certainly Hastings people are telling us their number one concern is jobs and the economy. And as a council we are developing a jobs’ action plan to try to make an impact.

We launched Own Grown a project to encourage local employers to take on apprentices. This month we set the target of 100 apprentices in 100 days – getting businesses across the town committing to take on 100 apprentices by 15th May. Of course I am urging that they be recruited at least on the minimum wage for their age and that training is accredited.

Training is free to the employer for under-19s and half covered for under 24s. From April the government is offering to pay small businesses with fewer than 50 staff £1,500 to take on an apprentice aged 16 to 24.

The council’s role is to raise awareness of apprenticeships and offer to be the go-between bringing employers together with the appropriate training provider. You can find out more at http://www.hastings.gov.uk/business_jobs/hai/apprenticeship_event/

The council is also heading up an employability project, to help local people who are out of work, especially young people, to demonstrate the appropriate social skills and grasp of the requirements of the workplace: to help them become employable. Called Pathways to Employment the project will hopefully be funded from a £150,000 bid for European funding.

Added to this is all the regeneration activity the council is involved in – the aim of which is to increase prosperity and bring jobs and incomes to the town.

In March the Jerwood gallery opens which I believe will be a major boost to our visitor economy and help create jobs in our hotels and restaurants. It will also underline Hastings place as a cultural centre which will attract cultural and creative businesses.

We are looking to rebrand the town with its cultural offer, its university and its quality of life at the heart of it. We need the same marketing brand to attract visitors and to attract businesses relocating to Hastings.

We succeeded in encouraging Saga to locate its insurance arm here and they are still promising up to 800 jobs. So we will continue to work as part of a regeneration company which is trying to repeat the Saga success by creating quality business space which can attract quality businesses to the town.

Nothing the council does is more important than this action plan for jobs.

2012 - a year of opportunities

What sort of year will 2012 be for Hastings Borough Council? It will be challenging; but what year isn’t? It will certainly be a year of intense activity for the council and a year with significant opportunities for Hastings.

It will see the council move on with the compulsory purchase of the Pier with the intention of passing it to the Pier Trust who have the chance of Heritage Lottery funds; we intend to compulsory purchase the eyesore that is the Malvern pub in Broomgrove and the equally unattractive empty nursing home in St Leonards. We will also be seeking to compulsorily purchasing a further batch of empty homes and return them to use.



Once the CPOs are confirmed the pub will be demolished. The nursing home refurbished and turned into individual dwellings as part of our housing improvement plan for Central St Leonards working with Local Space Housing Association. With us they will be investing £2 million into the area in 2012 for housing and environmental improvements.



Early in 2012 we will be launching our campaign to encourage local businesses to take on 100 apprentices in 100 days as part of our Jobs Action Plan.



In February Pizza Express opens on the Queens Road side of Priory Meadow which will be a good addition to our local economy and of course the council is the freeholder of the shopping centre.



In March the Jerwood Gallery will open which will really put Hastings on the national cultural map. The gallery will be home to an internationally acclaimed permanent art collection and will attract quality artists for changing exhibitions too. The Arts Council has awarded us £160,000 to add our own accompanying cultural activities on the Stade open space, based upon the principles of culture for all.



In 2012 work will go on at last in the White Rock Baths with the planned use by Lifecycle and there is a really exciting project for West Marina, again after too long a wait.

These could bring new life to the seafront. So too will our new seafront decorative lights which will be up by March, a little tea and coffee spot opening on the prom at Warrior Square and a number of play facilities we will be installing at different points on the prom by the Summer.

In July the Olympic Torch will be run along the seafront. We are the only East Sussex town where it stops overnight and where a real celebration is organised. We are planning to close the seafront from West St Leonards to the Old Town. Communities along the route are preparing festivities to greet the Torch and to have a good time, culminating in a big event on the Stade and the traditional Hastings firework display.

Financially the council is facing a difficult future but at least for 2012 there will be no rise in council tax and no rise in prices in the council’s car parks. So let’s make the most of this new year and hope that Hastings can prove it is the most improving seaside town.