Regeneration projects over the last year have had a dramatic effect on the changing face of Hastings and St Leonards.
Parks, public buildings and privately-owned buildings have all benefited from Hastings Borough Council’s zero tolerance approach to run-down eyesores around the town.
More than £66.5 million has been invested in a variety of projects by the Council and their partnership organisations, including the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA), English Partnerships, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), and the Hastings and Bexhill Task Force. This money will help put the heart back into the town, restoring dilapidated buildings to their former glory and preserving local built heritage.
The town’s regeneration strategy is based on five key aspects: education, business, urban renaissance, broadband and transport. At the beginning of the year, projects were already underway to improve the Marlborough Hotel, Regents Court and the railway station, and further projects completed over the course of the year included a £3.5 million facelift for Alexandra Park, thanks to significant funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund. This will inject new lease of life into this valuable public space, fundamental to improving people’s quality of life.
Disused buildings in Robertson Street have been transformed into the Hastings Broadband Experience Centre, which has already contributed to further regeneration of the town’s economy, assisting several small companies to expand. Further developments in Havelock Road are improving the town’s education facilities, with the renovation and soon-to-be completed extension of the University Centre Hastings.
Following the popular ‘Stick of Rock’ lighting scheme along the seafront, the new attractive, yet practical, lighting scheme at West Marina Gardens was switched on at the end of the year, adding to a feeling of community safety in the area.
Council leader, Jeremy Birch, said:
"Ongoing and upcoming plans to regenerate Ore Valley, St Leonards and Hastings’ seafront mean prestigious physical developments, helping to change the image of the town, in turn attracting visitors, stimulating the local economy and creating jobs. The aim of all these projects is to encourage innovative and sustainable regeneration, which not only fits in with the environment, but which meets the needs of future and current residents."
"Making the town a cleaner, safer and more attractive place has a major impact on how residents feel about themselves and their neighbourhood. By focusing attention and resources on making the right impression, it makes residents, regular users and visitors feel that Hastings and St Leonards is a great place to invest and live."
Further developments over the next few years will provide 1,400 new homes and over 100,000m2 of business and education space. Projects include Ore Valley regeneration, featuring the rebuilding of the Priory Neighbourhood Centre and the development of ecologically-friendly housing, the St Leonards renewal programme along with the regeneration of the Marina Pavilion on the seafront.
All these intitiatives will continue to regenerate the area, leading the way to improving residents’ surroundings and contributing to a positive impact on overall quality of life.
The restoration project of Summerfields Ice House, situated in the Horntye Park car park, has finally been completed, preserving another feature of Hastings’ built heritage.
Constructed in the early nineteenth century, the ice house is a single beehive-shaped chamber dug into the ground, with a domed roof and an entrance tunnel, and is located not far from where the kitchen of Bohemia House stood before its demolition in 1972. Ice would have been collected from shallow ponds over the winter and stored on a bed of straw in the ice house.
A drain outlet released water from the melting ice, and the chamber would normally have preserved fish and meat over the summer months. However, it seems that some ice houses were not used for their original refrigeration purpose but served more as a status symbol, and the Summerfields Ice House could well have been an example of the latter.
Council Leader Jeremy Birch said:
"On inspection, despite some damage to the entrance tunnel, the interior of the ice house was discovered to be in superb condition. The well-preserved state of the Summerfields Ice House makes it a rare example of this type of building."
"The restoration project, which included repairing the entrance door and re-rendering the exterior of the domed roof, cost around £5,000. Hastings Borough Council contributed half of the amount required, with the Horntye Cricket Ground Trustees and the Old Hastings Preservation Society providing the remaining half. It’s important that we continue to preserve our local heritage, and this partnership approach has proved a great success."
A plaque is being prepared for the door to the ice house to explain its history, and it is hoped open days will be organised for visits by members of the public.
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This page last updated: 04/04/2005