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Century House, Hastings Borough Council's office in Menzies Road, has closed. Over 150 people worked there until recently, but over the past few weeks most have now relocated to Aquila House.
Council leader Peter Pragnell explained:
"Century House may have been an excellent office in its time, but it didn't meet the latest accessibility requirements. A lot of members of the public, particularly those relying on public transport, found it difficult to get to. The cost of bringing the accommodation up to standard was very high, and, in line with our accommodation strategy, we thought it better to relocate the public offices, and most of the staff, back into the town centre.
"Hastings Borough Council already occupies most of Aquila House and we have now taken over the whole building, so allowing us to concentrate a number of departments there. Our Revenues and Benefits counter, our Parking shop, and our Licensing, Environmental Health and Planning offices are amongst the services now based at Aquila House. Of course, the Hastings Information Centre in Priory Meadow remains the 'first stop shop' for all general Council enquiries."
The birds are back and experts warn we could be in for a messy summer unless we take action now.
With the temporary closure of the Pebsham landfill site for business users, Hastings Borough Council's recycling bosses predict that seagulls will start looking for new sources of food, attacking more and more bin bags and leaving the streets strewn with rubbish.
Councillor Roy Tucker, responsible for waste and recycling, said:
"This summer the gulls are likely to be even more active in their attacks on bin bags and they leave a ridiculous amount of rubbish in their wake. It makes the town look dirty and unloved and means our rubbish contractors are working overtime to clean up, on top of their normal duties. Add to all this the health risks and you've got a situation that needs urgent attention.
"We are asking all residents not to put out rubbish before 7am on their collection day. Just this simple action should ensure our pavements and roads do not become unsightly and covered with litter."
Visit our Rubbish and Recycling pages for more information.
An anthology of pupils' poetry, inspired by weird and wonderful artefacts, has been published.
The collection, created by young people from Bexhill High, is now available at Hastings Museum and Art Gallery after a project run in conjunction with the museum.
Students and teachers visited the museum, off Bohemia Road, last year to browse around the intriguing collection of world art, spanning 4,000 years of human history. Featuring everything from a ceremonial feather cloak to a suit of Samurai armour, the collection is a popular part of the exhibition.
Staff at the museum had already commissioned poets John Agard, Grace Nichols and Imtiaz Dharker to come up with a series of poems to accompany many of the pieces for a booklet, Ethnographic Imaginings. The poets read out their contributions to the pupils, who were studying them for their GCSEs, and talked about their inspirations.
Now, following the project, a second booklet, More Imaginings, containing many of the students' poems is available alongside its predecessor.
All the poems are available to view in the Durbar Hall.
Visit www.hmag.org.uk for further information.
Sun, fun and great music - as festival season comes around, what better place to soak up the atmosphere this summer than in St Leonards?
The St Leonards Festival returns to Warrior Square Gardens and surrounding roads in a riot of colour and sounds on Saturday 11 July.
Highlights of this fourth annual event include music from The Real Thing and Samba band Sambalanca plus performances from the Swingin' Elvises and a carnival procession.
There will also be children's marquees with lots of activities on offer and a world market in Kings Road.
The festival starts at noon and is an alcohol-free event.
Visit sister site for more information.
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This page last updated: 02/07/2009