The decorative lighting along Sea Road, installed during January, was so enthusiastically received by local residents,that the scheme will be extended along the seafront by the Summer.
Eight lamp posts have been illuminated using brightly coloured bulbs which beam down from the top of each side of column, giving an overall effect like sticks of rock.
The scheme is part of the ongoing decorative lighting strategy which has seen £130,000 spent during the last year on illuminating key buildings and sites around the town. This includes the East Hill Cliff railway, Marine Court, Marina Colonnade, the Net Shops, the America Ground Mural, Holy Trinity Church, the Brassey Institute, the United Reform Church and the new lights at Sea Road.
The decorative lighting cages, which used to light the seafront were taken down during 2001. This is because East Sussex County Council paints the lamp posts along the seafront annually and each time the cages had to be taken down - in 2000, just taking those cages down cost nearly £24,000. This type of lighting was also expensive to run and maintain, running 80 x 15w bulbs per lamp post. The new lighting runs 2 x 150w bulbs per lamp post and does not have to be removed when the column is painted.
Maintenance has been considered in the Sticks of Rock design. They have been designed to withstand the extreme weather conditions.
Councillor Mike Bigg, Cabinet Member responsible for Regeneration & Tourism, is enthusiastic about this latest lighting project. He said:
"Following people’s positive comments about this project, the Cabinet voted unanimously to introduce it along the whole of the seafront."
"These lights are totally unique to Hastings & St Leonards. The old lighting, which was mounted in cages, was beginning to look very dated and was expensive to maintain. We did consider strings of lights, similar to those in Eastbourne, but the distance between our lamp posts would mean that they would not withstand the strong winds that we have."
"I am really pleased that these lights are popular and I hope that we could see them in place from West Marina to Breeds Place well before the summer season starts."
"We will also be continuing to light up more of our iconic buildings and spaces such as the Royal Victoria Hotel, Hastings Castle and Warrior Square."
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This page last updated: 04/04/2003