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I hope you will read this short Summary – it tells you what the council has been doing and what we intend to do. We have listened to local people in deciding on our priorities and will continue to do so.
Of course it is not the council alone that is trying to improve the town. We work with other organisations and local groups. And at last we are getting recognition from outside the town of our extra needs. Large sums of additional money are coming into Hastings & St Leonards to help us make a difference. All of us must make sure that money is put to the best use; it may be a once only opportunity.
You would expect your council to be at the heart of this revival of our town.
This Summary and its longer version will show you how we are bringing it about.
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This is a simple guide to 'Our Town, Our Tomorrow', the second Local Performance Plan for Hastings Borough Council. It provides information about the achievements of the Council over the last financial year (April 2000 to March 2001) and is your way of finding out if we are on the right road. Our aim is:
"To make Hastings & St Leonards a place where people want to live, work and can enjoy a high quality of life".
A grand vision needs a good plan. In 1999, through a series of surveys, you said that we should concentrate on 5 specific areas. We have given each of these areas a title: Regeneration, Community Safety & Quality of Life, Community Participation & Neighbourhood Renewal, Transport & Communication and Modernisation.
This guide to ‘Our Town, Our Tomorrow’ details some of the aims and achievements that fall into these 5 areas.
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Got tough with owners of Derelict Buildings
Improved the ‘America Ground’ and Town Centre areas and began pedestrianisation of Lower Queens Road
Leased out one of the Council’s largest empty factories to a tenant who will provide 35+ new jobs
Improved processing of planning applications (85% of users were satisfied with this service)
Submit a planning application to develop West Marina
Demolish what remains of the former Broomgrove power station
Begin work on Pelham Place Boulevard to create a better pedestrian flow between the Old Town and Town Centre
Give grants for building repairs in the central area of St Leonards
Develop Arts Projects that enhance public spaces
Further improve The Stade to attract tourists throughout the year
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Employed two Community Safety officers to improve home security and disrupt the trade in stolen goods.
Worked with the County Council, Sussex Police and others to reduce household burglaries by over 5%.
Introduced a byelaw to tackle street drinking in certain parts of the town.
Created a free bulky waste collection service for local residents (which led to the removal of almost 400 tonnes of unwanted items).
Set up a ‘Friends of the Park Steering Group’ to involve local people in the Alexandra Park Restoration Project.
Reached the target for inspections of food premises. For the highest risk premises, we achieved a 100% inspection rate.
Narrowly missed targets for the removal of abandoned vehicles due to an unprecedented surge in numbers.
Work with our partners to reduce robberies and vehicle crime.
Support the Neighbourhood Wardens project in Hollington.
Install additional fixed CCTV cameras in Ore and Silverhill (if our funding bid is successful).
Begin a paper-only Kerbside Recycling Scheme in most areas of the town.
Introduce measures to improve safety and security in parks.
Achieve Seaside Award Status for Hastings Beach (Pelham Place to Rock-a-Nore).
Install a permanent Air Quality monitoring station on the A259 in West St Leonards (as a result of the information gained from last years’ air quality review).
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Produced 4 copies of About magazine, issued around 380 news releases, improved our website and took up a regular slot on Arrow (107.8 FM) to keep local people informed about Council activities.
Extended the opening hours of the Hastings Information Centre so that it could handle an estimated 130,000 enquiries.
Published a Residents Association Help Pack.
Worked with local people on activities/events including Let’s go to the Park, Walking the Fish, Sussex Youth Games and Coastal Currents.
Invested £2.3m in affordable family homes, £1.25m in the Southwater Renewal Area and £0.5m in adapting homes for people with disabilities.
Brought 20 empty homes back into use.
Worked to reduce the length of time homeless people had to spend in bed & breakfast accommodation (despite the increase in numbers).
Work closely with people in Broomgrove, Castle, Central St Leonards, Gensing and Hollington wards on projects funded by the Government’s Neighbourhood Renewal Fund.
Set up a pilot local neighbourhood forum to further involve local people in decisions that affect their area.
Continue to provide opportunities for residents to put their views and ideas into Council plans and decisions.
Run a Benefit Take-Up Campaign to promote the availability of benefits for vulnerable groups.
Continue working with local people on housing and environmental improvements in the Southwater Renewal Area.
Invest money in building new homes and renovating existing and empty homes.
Improve security and fire safety measures in Houses in Multiple Occupation.
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Created 14 Small Traffic Schemes (including three 20mph zones outside schools).
Erected ‘Kill your Speed’ signs on 32 streets.
Installed the first 35 dropped kerbs to assist wheelchair and pushchair users.
Provided 8000 free bus passes under the Concessionary Fares Scheme.
Worked with the County Council, Sussex Police and others to reduce crime in Council car parks by around 18%.
Signed the first Quality Bus Partnership in the county as a commitment to improve services.
Extended parking enforcement to prevent the emergency services from being hindered by illegal parking at evenings/weekends.
Recommended (with others) a package of measures (including public transport improvements and a Hastings By-Pass) to the Government.
Give the management of the Community Transport Scheme budget to local neighbourhood and community groups.
Provide more bus shelters and maintain the cleanliness of bus waiting areas.
Work with local schools to develop safer school routes.
Introduce further traffic calming measures (prioritised according to the 100+ requests from local people).
Continue to erect temporary ‘Kill Your Speed’ signs.
Work with the County Council to develop further sections of the Cycle Route.
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Found only 20% of respondents dissatisfied with Council services.
Redesigned the Council’s website www.hastings.gov.uk
Equipped Hastings Museum for technology-based exhibitions.
Introduced a Job Share Scheme policy.
Began exploring new ways of encouraging residents to vote after turnout for the local elections fell to just under 26½%.
Introduce a new Decision-Making Structure and Council Constitution to comply with the Local Government Act 2000.
Make sure that all Councillors can be reached by e-mail.
Expand telephone and internet facilities for Council information and services.
Strive to achieve central government’s new targets for the electronic provision of Council services by 2005.
Continue to reduce sickness absence so that we head towards the national target of 6.8 days per employee by 2004/05.
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To help you decide whether or not we are measuring up, we have compared our efficiency in 2000/2001 with our efficiency in the previous year.
| 1999/2000 | 2000/2001 | |
|---|---|---|
| Percentage of planning applications determined within 8 weeks | 68.1% | 72.5% |
| Percentage of high-risk food premises inspections carried out | 100.0% | 100% |
| Percentage of planning applicants satisfied with the service provided in processing their application | No survey | 85% |
| Average length of stay in bed and breakfast accommodation (for homeless households) | 6 weeks | 5 weeks |
| Renewal claims for Housing and Council Tax Benefits processed on time | 71.5% | 90.0% |
| Number of enquiries handled by our Information Centres | 108,665 | 130,000 |
| Number of incidents of car crime reported in council car parks | 133 | 109 |
| Percentage of people dissatisfied with the overall service provided by the council | No survey | 20% |
| Percentage of invoices paid within 30 days by the council | 84.1% | 93.0% |
| 1999/2000 | 2000/2001 | |
|---|---|---|
| Percentage of household waste recycled | 5.9% | 5.0% |
| Queuing time for telephone calls directed through our central switchboard number (781066) | 14.2 seconds | 16.5 seconds |
| Average time take to remove fly-tips | 0.8 days | 1.3 days |
| Annual usage of the East Hill and West Hill Cliff Railways | 245,102 | 230,000 |
| The percentage turnout for local elections | 28.93% | 26.39% |
In November 2000 we held three small discussion groups made up of ‘Citizen’s Panel’ members together with representatives of community organisations and the voluntary, business and public sectors. These people gave us the ideas and opinions that formed our work priorities and budget plans for 2001/02.
Best Value is a Central Government initiative to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Council services. It is all about getting the most out of your Council Tax. We are reviewing everything we do over the next five years to see if we can do it better. The outcome of each review will be published in ‘About’. Services under review for this year include:
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The full version of 'Our Town, Our Tomorrow' is a 70-page document available at the Library and Hastings Information Centre.
If you or anyone you know would like a full version, please let us know.
Copies can also be made available on tape and large print.
Please let us have your views on our plans for this year (April 2001 – March 2002), about our performance in the last year and about how well we have presented the information in this article. Is it clear enough?
Free-phone; 0800 328 8093
Minicom; 01424 781755
Fax: 01424 781515
email: comments@hastings.gov.uk
Hastings Borough Council
Town Hall,
Queens Road
Hastings, East Sussex, TN34 1QR
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This page last updated: 20/08/2001