Leonard the Seagull, Hastings Council’s ‘Passport to Leisure’ mascot, is crowing over the services of the ‘PTL’ scheme.
The ‘Passport to Leisure’ was introduced in 1997, and offers residents of the town discounts on a wide range of leisure facilities, from allotments and theatre tickets, and reduced charges at leisure centres through to cheap bus travel and discounts at a wider range of shops. In April 2000, free ‘Passport to Leisure’ membership was offered to all young people between the age of 5 and 17.
Hastings Council’s Cabinet will hear at tomorrow night’s meeting just how successful the scheme has been. Prior to younger residents been offered free membership, just 600 ‘PTL’ cards were issued to under 15 year olds – this has now risen to 2118, over 15% of all young people in the town.
In addition, 225 local businesses now support the scheme, compared to 178 in 1999.
And there are now plans to improve membership to this scheme even more, discussions are taking place with the Young Persons Council and other groups on how best to do this – socially excluded young people are a particular target.
Councillor John Humphries, Cabinet Member responsible for Community Participation said:
"Its great to see the increased take-up and use of PTL by young people, particularly since one of our objectives is to develop new ways in which the council can be of positive benefit to a wider range of local citizens."
The Mayor of Hastings & St. Leonards, Councillor Jackie Dowling, is ‘beating the bounds’ of the town this weekend, for charity. She is to walk around the entire perimeter of the town over four days, starting from the Hastings Information Centre at 1100 on Thursday 5th April. She is scheduled to arrive back at the Information Centre at 3 o’clock on Sunday afternoon (8th April) having walked an estimated 12 miles. A detailed itinerary is attached.
Called ‘Thirsty for Life’, the walk will take the Mayor pass a number of churches, and pubs! She will be collecting for Hastings Furniture Service and the East Sussex Special Sports Association.
Councillor Dowling will be accompanied by an ex-milk float as a support vehicle, kindly supplied by Battle Lions Club; and marshals are also being provided from the two charities being supported.
Councillor Jackie Dowling said:
"Although I’ve lived in Hastings for many years, I’ve never walked around the whole boundary of the town. I thought it was be a fun thing to do as Mayor, especially as I’ll be collecting for charity as I go.
"Please do come and support me, and bring your donation into the Hastings Information Centre. I shall be back there by 3 o’clock on Sunday! I hope!
"I have received a lot of help in organising this event, and I’d particularly like to thank the supporting churches and pubs, and the Lions Club."
Hastings Council’s Cabinet is expected to agree the appointment of a new Park Ranger, and make other improvements to the supervision of the parks and open spaces within the town, at its meeting tomorrow.
The Cabinet is to consider a ‘Best Value Review’ undertaken on ‘Parks and Open Spaces’. This included consultation on the use of the parks and a common theme amongst users was the issue of the perception of safety and security.
As a result, an extra Park Ranger is being proposed. In addition, Onyx, the company contracted by the Council to undertake grounds maintenance in the parks, are likely to have a much higher public profile. The Cabinet is expected to agree a greater visible presence by Onyx staff who will help provide Ranger Services in addition to their normal duties. For example they will wear distinctive uniforms, and answer public queries, and help enforce byelaws; they will also have mobile phones, to obtain help if they can’t deal with an enquiry there and then.
Councillor Mike Bigg, Cabinet Member responsible for Regeneration & Tourism welcomed the news:
"This is another example of this Council listening to the views of the public. I know that lots of residents and visitors enjoy our many parks, and these changes will make them feel safer. There will be more staff on hand to deal with enquiries and, if necessary, enforce the byelaws, to improve the enjoyment of all. And we are making these improvements at no extra cost to the taxpayer, as we are re-investing some of the savings being made in the Grounds Maintenance Contract."
Parts of the country park, and St Helens Wood, are set to re-open this weekend following more detailed advice from the Government on ‘foot and mouth’ disease.
Although public rights of way are to remain closed across East Sussex, restrictions are to be lifted in some areas of woodland, and other parts of the countryside where sensible precautions are taken. This means keeping the public away from livestock.
After careful consideration, and an assessment of the risks involved, environmental chiefs in Hastings & St. Leonards have agreed that St. Helens Wood, and parts of the country park, can be re-opened. Walkers will once again be able to enjoy Ecclesbourne Glen, and the Firehills, although Fairlight Glen and Warren Glen will remain closed, because of the farmland nearby.
Councillor Mike Bigg is Cabinet Member for Regeneration & Tourism:
"The re-opening of our countryside is good news for residents and visitors alike, and is particularly welcome as we approach the busy Easter holiday period.
"Even Hastings has been affected by ‘foot and mouth’, which has deterred a lot of visitors, so I am really pleased that St Helens Wood, and parts of the Country Park, are to re-open this weekend.
"We will obviously keep a constant watch on developments, but, at the moment, if visitors take sensible precautions, there is no reason why they can’t once again enjoy a walk in the country."
Further details can be obtained from the Hastings Information Centre in Priory Meadow, or by calling Hastings (01424) 781111.
Hastings Council is pressing for government help for tourism in the town. Although no foot and mouth cases have been recorded in the town or, indeed, 1066 Country, the disease has nevertheless had a significant impact on the town’s tourism businesses. In particular, the educational market, foreign language schools, and the camping parks have been very badly affected. And although popular visitor attractions are actually busier in some cases, as visitors flock to the seaside rather than the countryside, there are real concerns about the long term impact of the disease on tourism, especially on the important international market.
Yet while rural districts are benefiting from a financial support package from the government, Hastings, as an urban town, is being excluded.
The Council has now written to Hilary Armstrong, Minister for Local Government & The Regions, asking that it too, can benefit from the scheme.
A brand new exhibition starts at Hastings Museum & Art Gallery this week, which features stuffed owls in headdresses - among other things!
Julian Walker's exhibition, which starts on Saturday, is based on the stories behind Grey Owl, Piltdown Man & the Hastings Rarities. The work in the exhibition develops Walker's fascination with the power of objects and the notions of reality. He focuses on the three histories - the lies, the authenticites and the hierarchies of cultures.
'Lies & Belonging' questions the idea of knowledge and how things are described, catalogued and interpreted. The exhibition comprises a large wall installation of 1200 objects, video, cabinets of objects relating to the stories, head dresses and stuffed owls in head dresses!
Piltdown Man, excavated in Sussex between 1911 and 1915, was unmasked as a forgery in 1953. Archie Belaney was born in 1888 in Hastings and emigrated to Canada. In the 1920s he changed from a trapper to an 'eco-warrior'. He reinvented himself as a full blooded Ojibwe Chief and lectured all over the world. He was recognised in Hastings and denounced as a fraud.
The Hastings Rarities were a group of birds shot in the Hastings area between 1892 and 1930 and stuffed by local taxidermist George Bristow. In 1962 a large number were declared fraudulent and were removed from the List of British Birds.
If you want to know about the Council's achievements over the last year, and its plans and targets for the next, look out for a leaflet called 'Our Town, Our Tomorrow', which is being delivered to homes around the town at the moment.
The Council's aim is: 'To make Hastings & St Leonards a place where people want to live, work and can enjoy a high quality of life'. A plan has been made to help achieve this. It concentrates on five specific areas that residents, by filling in questionnaires and taking part in focus groups, have said are most important.
The five areas are:
The leaflet gives information on all of the plans, achievements and targets for each area. It is a summary of a much larger document - The Local Performance Plan. If you would like to look at the Council's plans in more detail, The Local Performance Plan can be found at the Hastings Information Centre Priory Meadow.
Councillor John Humphries, Cabinet Member responsible for Community Participation, said:
"Local residents have played a major part in helping us develop our aims for the future of Hastings & St Leonards. We all want to make the best of our town, and this leaflet shows what we have done and what we want to achieve."
If you want to know about the Council's achievements over the last year, and its plans and targets for the next, look out for a leaflet called 'Our Town, Our Tomorrow', which is being delivered to homes around the town at the moment.
The Council's aim is: 'To make Hastings & St Leonards a place where people want to live, work and can enjoy a high quality of life'. A plan has been made to help achieve this. It concentrates on five specific areas that residents, by filling in questionnaires and taking part in focus groups, have said are most important.
The five areas are:
The leaflet gives information on all of the plans, achievements and targets for each area. It is a summary of a much larger document - The Local Performance Plan. If you would like to look at the Council's plans in more detail, The Local Performance Plan can be found at the Hastings Information Centre Priory Meadow.
Councillor John Humphries, Cabinet Member responsible for Community Participation, said:
"Local residents have played a major part in helping us develop our aims for the future of Hastings & St Leonards. We all want to make the best of our town, and this leaflet shows what we have done and what we want to achieve."
Hastings has now got its very own clean beach flag, which proves that the beach has high standards of cleanliness and safety.
The beach passed 29 different checks, including first aid, water cleanliness, beach safety, facilities for disabled visitors and readily available information. The certificate was awarded by the Tidy Britain Group and a flag will soon fly by the beach to mark the high standards that the beach has.
The lifeguard station, which was first introduced last summer, is due to re-open at the end of May. The public will be able to find out general beach information and hire deck chairs and sunbeds from there, from the end of May. The lifeguards will be stationed back there from mid July until September. They will carry out beach patrols, give first aid if needed and generally make sure the beach is a safe environment for users.
Councillor Mike Bigg said:
"A tremendous amount of hard work has been put in to make our beach a cleaner, safer and better environment for residents and visitors to the town. Twenty water quality tests were carried out before we were given this award - our results were better than Blackpool's!
"Pelham beach was one of only twelve beaches in Sussex to be awarded this year - and the only new one. The standard has to be maintained and all the tests will be carried out year on year - so we will be making sure that we keep up these standards."
Hastings Council and Hyde Housing Association were hauled up in the High Court in London today, following a claim that demolition works were already taking place at the Marlborough Hotel.
It was claimed, by a local resident, on behalf of some conservation groups represented by local solicitor Jo Holden, that the demolition works were underway - without permission. But, works are simply being carried out to make the building safe - to make sure that the public are not in danger.
Earlier this year, masonry fell from the bay windows on the Norman Road side of the building, narrowly missing passers-by. The Council cordoned the area off and served a notice on Hyde requiring them to carry out works to make it safe.
Chief Executive of Hastings Council, Roy Mawford, said: "In this case the judge was clear that the Court's time - and indeed ours - would not have been wasted, had we been approached with the concerns of Mr Holden's clients.
"The judge stated that he felt the Council had acted in a reasonable manner with the interest of public safety at heart.
"This matter would have been cleared up much more easily if we had been approached directly rather than having to use the legal system. There was no need to involve lawyers at all.
"This was clearly a waste of Council time and resources which could have been spent much more productively elsewhere."
The Council’s ‘grotbusters’ are turning their attention to Bohemia and they are not just clamping down on eyesore buildings - they are also offering painting grants to help local traders spruce up their shops.
The painting grants will be similar to those operating in Kings Road at the moment and those run recently in Bexhill Road. A grant of around £200 to £300 will be made available by the Council per shop, and traders will contribute to half of the paint costs.
Chair of the Council's Planning Board, David Hancock, said:
"Councillors and Council Officers recently walked along Bohemia Road, and a note was made of every property in need of improvement.
"Some owners will get letters pointing out what needs to be done, with others we are prepared to get tough. But for those properties that just look a bit jaded a coat of paint will help make the whole place look brighter and that’s why the painting grants will be made available.
"Improving the appearance of our town is an essential part of regeneration and you can already see the benefits that making owners clean up their buildings has made along the seafront. Now we want to extend the scheme and work with the traders in Bohemia to improve that area of the town. The Council message is -'who are you going to call: Grotbusters!'"
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This page last updated: 07/04/2003