Visitor Centre

Work is now underway to build a new Visitor Centre for Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve. The centre will be built in a sustainable way using straw bales. It will be home to information about the park, its geology, habitats, species and heritage together with a café for light refreshments and new WC facilities.

The new centre will be located on Lower Coastguard Lane opposite the main carpark for the Firehills area of the park, making the most of the park's stunning views over the English Channel.

Construction will start in May and throughout the summer there will be opportunities to watch exciting stages in the build such as the straw bale walls being constructed and the lime render being applied. The construction team is headed by SIA Design and Build, working with three specialist straw bale companies. We will be working with the build team to ensure that any potential disruption to users of the park and local residents is kept to a minimum.

The project is funded by Hastings Borough Council together with an award of £475,000 from Interreg North West Europe. The Interreg award is part of the innovative project called 'Up Straw' which is increasing awareness of public building with straw across North West Europe.

Once the new centre opens it will provide an exciting facility for visitors to the park to find out about this special landscape, for schools visits, activities and family events.