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Our work in St Leonards is all about building on these strengths, energising its vibrant community, reconnecting the area with the rest of the town and celebrating its unique heritage and history.
These regularly updated pages are your guide to everything that's going on in St Leonards so please use them!
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St Leonards is home to many acclaimed restaurants and bars
We're currently building an online guide to all the restaurants and bars in St Leonards on our sister site which will be supported by a printed brochure that should help lift the area's profile as one of the best places to eat out in Sussex.
It's never been easier to find out what's going on in St Leonards!
We've introduced events listings on this website and on our sister site which are used by over 5,000 residents and visitors a month. These listings carry information on events in St Leonards including the Festival and the upcoming reopening of St Leonards Gardens. Members of the public are already providing listings information via the submit an event form so if there's something you'd like to promote please use it!
Kings Road is the area's main shopping district
We're building a retail directory which will replace the existing Town Centre Management listing and will appear on both this website and also our sister site. Over 20,000 people visit this site every month so businesses will benefit from unprecedented levels of exposure.
The Hastings Half Marathon brings thousands of visitors to St Leonards
Our sister site already carries information on Burtons St Leonards and installations like Stream. We've just agreed a discounted parking fee in the Marina Car Park for Royal Victoria Hotel visitors both during the day and night - this should encourage more visitors to stay in the area. We also run an 'illuminated architecture' tour that takes in key St Leonards locations and we work closely with the Marina-based Hastings Arts Forum and the Baird Film and Television Initiative.
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Residents and visitors enjoy the launch of Stream
There are various ways in which the community can help shape the future of St Leonards. When there's a specific issue (e.g. parking) we carry out a formal 'consultation' which gives people the chance to express their opinions on our proposals and suggest alternatives. On this website, you can find out about upcoming consultations or read the results of previous consultations.
You can join the Gensing and Central St Leonards Community Forum which is a formal group that lobbies the council, the police, the health authority and other public services to improve life in the area for all residents.
You can also sign up to an e newsletter which will keep you informed of all the latest developments.
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Renaissance House
As part of our commitment to making it easier for St Leonards residents to access our services, we recently relocated a large part of our Community Wellbeing team to the Old Christchurch School in London Road.
If you need to talk to somebody about a Council service or want to find out more about our work in St Leonards, then please ask the staff in reception and they will be more than happy to help.
Address:
Renaissance House
The Old Christchurch School
London Road
Open 9.00am to 5.00pm - Monday to Friday
Staffed by local volunteers, the centre is there for everyone living and working in St Leonards. You can call in and find out more about the Gensing and Central St Leonards Community Forum, collect a free personal attack alarm or smoke alarm, report problems with rubbish, neighbours or any other issue of concern. We also want to hear about your suggestions on how we can improve the area!
Address:
Community Information Centre
16 Silchester Road
Open 9.30am to 1.00pm - Monday to Friday
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St Leonards Festival
Now in its third year, the St Leonards Festival has become the centrepiece of the year for the community and a mainstay in the whole town's events calendar.
Previous years have seen major acts like Aswad take to the main stage and the festival is fast gaining a reputation as one of the most exhilarating and innovative seaside community events in the South East. Thousands of residents and visitors enjoy the festival market in Kings Road, the countless activities available on the seafront and the many community stands in Warrior Square Gardens.
The festival is all about the wonderfully diverse and talented community of St Leonards. We want to bring people out of their homes and onto the streets to meet their neighbours and celebrate everything that's unique about this remarkable corner of the town.
Find out more about this year's festival on our sister site's events pages and remember that you can search for other events through our online listings.
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Improvements made to St Leonards Gardens
Following our March 2006 award of almost £1million from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), we have now restored St Leonards Gardens and South Lodge to their former glory. In the gardens we've renovated walls, paths and railings, and replanted flower and shrub borders. We've also installed additional seating so residents can enjoy the views of South Lodge and the gardens.
Visit our St Leonards Gardens area to find out more about the gardens or learn more about the restoration.
On June 21 2008, we held a Grand Reopening of the gardens with celebrity garden writer Roddy Llewellyn, various historic costumed characters setting the Burton theme, music, guided walks, drama and stalls. Hundreds of visitors flocked to the event and enjoyed the costumed characters of James and Elizabeth Burton who wandered the gardens telling stories. Visitors also had the chance to hear music from the Georgian period, see a magical performance of Midsummer Night's Dream, try a discovery trail with the RSPCA, hear stories from Talking Tales and join in games with our play team. In the evening, Azur at the Marina Pavilion held a special jazz and juice reception and two screenings of A Midsummer Nights Dream were staged by Plush Productions with our partners the Hastings Arts Forum. Stallholders included many local businesses and restaurants and a team was on hand to answer questions and sign people up to our newly launched garden waste scheme.
Please contact us if you are interested in becoming a member of the Friends of St Leonards Gardens, or have an idea for a future event.
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For residents and businesses one of the major issues in St Leonards is parking. It's vital that we find the right solution as properly planned parking can help get things moving in St Leonards, stimulating shopping and visitor activity. We have recently carried out two major consultations on the issue of parking in St Leonards and they've thrown up some fascinating results that should provide a strong foundation for making the right decisions about the future.
This study explores how parking management, supply and demand will impact on the St Leonards economy both now and into the future. You can read an executive summary of the study or the report that went to our Cabinet committee.
We're now hoping to introduce a raft of interim measures to make more parking spaces available for shoppers visiting the retail ares of Central St Leonards. Subject to funding, these measures should be put in place early next year and include:
A project group has been set up to deliver the initiative as quickly as possible but please keep checking this page for the latest news.
We're working with East Sussex County Council and South East England Development Agency to improve the pedestrian environment along the 'Kings Road Corridor' which runs from St Leonards Warrior Square station to the seafront along Kings Road and London Road. These improvements are designed to attract visitors and new businesses to the area and work is scheduled to begin within Kings Road in early 2009.
This study looked at how more parking could be provided around Warrior Square Gardens and, following broad support from residents and retailers, we are now working on the detailed designs. You can read the existing study documents and we'll be publishing the designs as soon as they are available and starting work in December.
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Click on the image to open a large version in a new browser Window with a horizontal scroll bar - (.jpg 90KB)
Get a real sense of the character and charm of St Leonards with this rooftop panorama, taken from a balcony in Marine Court!
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Aerial view of St Leonards
In 2003 Central St Leonards was declared a Housing Renewal Area which means that we recognise a need to improve the quality and safety of much of its housing. You can read the list of properties included in the renewal area and there is a map of the renewal area available.
As part of our drive to improve St Leonards' housing, we have a strict enforcement regime for houses in multiple occupation and dilapidated properties.
We're currently investing approximately £1m a year into this programme and since September 2004 more than 146 homes have been brought up to scratch.
We're now focused on the worst housing areas in Central St Leonards, namely Silchester, Stockleigh, Carisbrooke, Kenilworth and parts of Pevensey Road. More and more roads will be covered as the project continue and a new 3 year investment programme is just about to be confirmed.
Residents and landlords still can apply for a number of grants as part of our overall plan to improve the quality of housing in the St Leonards area.
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Expect to see this in the late Summer!
With our partners Seaspace, we have transformed this much-loved 1930s Marina Pavilion into a quality, year-round seafront entertainment and conference venue.
The renovation works involved upgrading the flood defences on the existing building and creating a brasserie-style restaurant in a new road-level single-storey building which is screened with striking coloured glass panels, designed with input from local artists. All parts of the venue have stunning views across the sea toward Beachy Head.
Dynamic new hospitality group Lightening Leisure Ltd has signed a deal with to run the venue as 'Azur at the Marina Pavilion.'
Lightening Leisure is a new company set up to run Marina Pavilion by entrepreneurial duo David Thorpe-Tracey and Allison McQueen-Luzar. David Thorpe-Tracey was a founding director of West Ham United Hospitality Ltd, the hospitality arm of the well-known football club. Allison McQueen-Luzar is one of the UK's top complementary medicine consultants, having owned and run a successful clinic for the last 18 years.
Lightening Leisure will run Azur as a landmark restaurant, entertainment, wedding and conference venue, beach-front bistro café and state-of-the-art complementary health and beauty suite clinic using the latest technologies.
If you have any queries, please call Lightening Leisure on 0845 812 1066.
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Artists impression of the Kings Road Corridor Project
As the area's main shopping district, it's vital that we make the most of Kings Road. That's why we're using Kings Road to create an attractive corridor between Warrior Square railway station and the seafront. This will involve partly pedestrianising Kings Road
We'll be making the junction between London Road and Kings Road more attractive
We'll also be improving the Kings Road/London Road junction and London Road/A259 junction to make it easier for pedestrians to cross, particularly those with disabilities.
Much of the work, including improvements to the lighting, CCTV coverage and planting has already begun and it should gather pace in early 2009 when we start improving the Warrior Station Square.
This regularly updated area will show how we're not only making big changes throughout St Leonards but also a series of smaller alterations that, when taken together, will greatly improve the appearance and ambience of the area together with people's perceptions of it. These alterations all add up to a better quality of life for residents and an improved and more alluring image for potential visitors.
Before: A lack of distinction between pavement and road. A drab, uninviting scene with little definition or character and a monotony of concrete!
After: Greatly improved paving that widens the scope of the entrance. A grey-bricked effect where the road meets another to improve safety. A newly planted tree clad in an attractive cage that interrupts the monotony of concrete and complements the newly installed Victorian bollards.
Before: A typically drab urban scene where the pavement, road design and street lamps do nothing to complement the unique Victorian architecture.
After: A series of carefully considered features draw the eye away from the less attractive elements of the street scene. Newly planted trees clad in atttractive, Victorian-style cages disrupt the grey monotony of the road and the pavement. A newly installed street lamp in the Victorian style accentuates the street's unique heritage. A grey-bricked effect where the road meets another improves safety.
Before: One of the things we're trying to do in St Leonards is to make a clearer link between the streets and the seaside as many people have said they feel like they're cut off from the sea - despite the fact that it's only a few minutes' walk away! This image shows how a combination of cluttered signage, overly complex traffic systems and close-knit railings create a sense of claustrophobia and obstructs the natural flow of London Road as it emerges from the centre of St Leonards and out onto the seafront. It also makes this 'gateway' into St Leonards appear heavily fortified and uninviting!
After: We've removed the railings and much of the signage and simplified the traffic system to create a much more expansive effect so London Road flows freely out onto the seafront, feels far less static and leads easily onto the panorama of the beach! Equally, this 'gateway' into St Leonards is now open and inviting.
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Please contact us for further advice or information on any matter relating to Central St Leonards Regeneration.
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This page last updated: 16/07/2008