Friday 24 December 2010

End of year report

The year has not ended too well. Snow and ice have left some residents marooned in their homes or badly disrupted their travel plans. Although council staff and our contractors have done their best with clearing pavements and important roads.


The year hasn’t ended well for Hastings Borough Council either with the news that we are in the premier league of councils facing the maximum cut in government grant. Unfortunately no-one can clear that problem from our doorstep – we are left with it.

But as to the 12 months just ending, after the May elections the council adopted a new programme for the year and significant progress has been made in a number of the commitments it included.

The council has agreed to compulsorily purchase seven homes that have been left empty for between six and 17 years. In fact one has already been sold and the council will now be checking to make sure the new owner brings it back into use promptly.

We expect to bring in an additional tough licensing scheme for privately rented accommodation to protect tenants from bad landlords as we committed.

Progress is being made on the adoption of an anti-poverty strategy that was promised – it will be out for consultation in the Spring. Work has also started on an equalities charter. Councillors and the Disability Forum toured the town centre to check on the access for disabled people.

A report will go to the January cabinet to establish a system of planning forums where developers of big projects will meet with the local community before they submit their final planning application.

We have introduced a new culture of openness into the Town Hall. The council now published online details of all expenditure over £500 and the salaries of top council officers, as well as the register of members’ interests.

The council has listened to public priorities and got tough on fly-tippers, flyposters and on dog-owners who don’t clear up after their animals – remember the “we’re not taking your s**t any more” campaign in the Summer.

We pledged to compulsorily purchase Hastings Pier and are prepared to see it through along with the Pier Trust’s bid for heritage lottery money. The council has of course paid for the clear-up and demolition of the wreckage and for keeping the site secure.

We also pledged to continue support for Active Hastings which brings fitness opportunities for different parts to the town. With that support they have just been awarded another £275,000. On top of that a major refurbishment is currently underway at Summerfields sports centre.

We also promised to rebuild public trust and confidence in politics. I hope the Big Conversation with its 2,500 responses and how we now handle the budget pressures will go some way to achieving this.

But whatever is thrown at us our principles stand – of valuing staff, doing our best to protect the vulnerable and making sure Hastings continues to improve.

Saturday 4 December 2010

Hastings weathers the storm



Last Tuesday evening I was worrying as my partner had not made it home from South East London. She finally arrived about 10.00pm after an eight-hour drive hitting speeds of five miles per hour on the M25 and passing stationary lorries stranded in the middle lane. Friends told me similar nightmare tales from train journeys down to Hastings that night. There were no Hastings trains at all on December 1st or 2nd.


Hastings and St Leonards can look great in the snow. There are numerous pretty pictures of snow-clad beaches, cliffs and woods. But severe weather can be a very trying and nerve-racking experience for many people.

But what about Hastings Borough Council? We had to abandon refuse collections as it would be a hazard for the crews and because a 30 tonne waste freighter going down a heavily iced steep cul-de-sac would be a potential danger to every other vehicle parked there.

Instead the street sweepers, waste crews and parks and gardens teams were mobilised to clear and salt pavements in the main shopping areas like the town centre, Central St Leonards, Ore Village and Silverhill. I have received several comments from residents and traders saying how well this has been done and that it has made getting around easier than last year.

In the light of last Winter’s experience the council agreed to purchase its own modest stocks of salt precisely for these pavements and also for those individual roads that are the only entrance points to residential or industrial estates. Those plans were put into operation last week.

Of course there were still people stranded in their own homes, unable or too frightened to venture out on untreated roads and pavements.

The County Council as the highway authority has the duty of keeping roads clear and it determines which roads are salted and snow-ploughed. After discussion of last year’s experience it has included the roads leading to the bus garage on its routes. You can check their gritting routes via: http://www.eastsussex.gov.uk/roadsandtransport/roads/maintenance/saltingandgritting/find/default.aspx

The County Council told me on Friday 3rd December: “All of our gritters and snow ploughs were out yesterday evening before we rested the drivers over night, having worked continuously for almost 24 hours. They were out again early this morning and have just gone out again salting and ploughing all primary and secondary routes.” 

By that Friday they had used 3,200 tonnes of salt around the county. Unfortunately heavy snow kept falling on top of the salt that had been put down.

The County Council did point out to me: “We continue to receive calls from members of the public asking why their roads have not been gritted or salted; when in reality they have been. When we clear snow we have to ensure the snow plough blade does not come into contact with the road surface or we risk snagging cats-eyes and man-hole covers. Consequently snow ploughing does leave a thin layer of snow behind which is salted and then relies on vehicle actions to churn and melt the snow.”

As a thaw hopefully sets in we do need to look whether Hastings Borough Council can still do things better within the resources available. Also we need to continue discussing with the County Council whether the gritting routes they cover are adequate and the most appropriate to help as many people as possible. And we do need to urge residents to do their bit to clear the paths outside their own front door and perhaps outside any more vulnerable neighbour.

But can I thank everyone who did their bit as council staff, our contractors or as ordinary residents to try assist the people of the town during those difficult days.

Hastings weathers the storm

Last Tuesday evening I was worrying as my partner had not made it home from South East London. She finally arrived about 10.00pm after an eight-hour drive hitting speeds of five miles per hour on the M25 and passing stationary lorries stranded in the middle lane. Friends told me similar nightmare tales from train journeys down to Hastings that night. There were no Hastings trains at all on December 1st or 2nd.


Hastings and St Leonards can look great in the snow. There are numerous pretty pictures of snow-clad beaches, cliffs and woods. But severe weather can be a very trying and nerve-racking experience for many people.

But what about Hastings Borough Council? We had to abandon refuse collections as it would be a hazard for the crews and because a 30 tonne waste freighter going down a heavily iced steep cul-de-sac would be a potential danger to every other vehicle parked there.

Instead the street sweepers, waste crews and parks and gardens teams were mobilised to clear and salt pavements in the main shopping areas like the town centre, Central St Leonards, Ore Village and Silverhill. I have received several comments from residents and traders saying how well this has been done and that it has made getting around easier than last year.

In the light of last Winter’s experience the council agreed to purchase its own stocks of salt precisely for these pavements and also for those individual roads that are the only entrance points to residential or industrial estates. Those plans were put into operation last week.

Of course many people were still stranded in their own homes, unable or too frightened to venture out on untreated roads and pavements.

The County Council as the highway authority has the duty of keeping roads clear and it determines which roads are salted and snow-ploughed. After discussion of last year’s experience it has included the roads leading to the bus garage on its routes. You can check their gritting routes via: http://www.eastsussex.gov.uk/roadsandtransport/roads/maintenance/saltingandgritting/find/default.aspx

The County Council told me on Friday 3rd December: “All of our gritters and snow ploughs were out yesterday evening before we rested the drivers over night, having worked continuously for almost 24 hours. They were out again early this morning and have just gone out again salting and ploughing all primary and secondary routes.”

By that Friday they had used 3,200 tonnes of salt around the county. Unfortunately heavy snow kept falling on top of the salt that had been put down.

The County Council did point out to me: “We continue to receive calls from members of the public asking why their roads have not been gritted or salted; when in reality they have been. When we clear snow we have to ensure the snow plough blade does not come into contact with the road surface or we risk snagging cats-eyes and man-hole covers. Consequently snow ploughing does leave a thin layer of snow behind which is salted and then relies on vehicle actions to churn and melt the snow.”

As a thaw hopefully sets in we do need to look whether Hastings Borough Council can still do things better within the resources available. Also we need to continue discussing with the County Council whether the gritting routes they cover are adequate and the most appropriate to help as many people as possible. And we do need to urge residents to do their bit to clear the paths outside their own front door and perhaps outside any more vulnerable neighbour.

But can I thank everyone who did their bit as council staff, our contractors or as ordinary residents to try assist the people of the town during those difficult days.










Saturday 6 November 2010

Here is the news

With BBC journalists exercising their right to strike regular news bulletins have been disrupted. So here is the news for Hastings:

The bad news

• On the A21, two schemes (Kippings Cross to Lamberhurst and Flimwell to Robertsbridge) were cancelled in the coalition government’s Comprehensive Spending Review, as was the Baldslow Link;

• The Review also announced a 28% cut in local council funding over the next four years. Hastings Borough Council has been holding a Big Conversation with residents to find out their spending priorities;

• With 43% of Hastings employment in the public sector the town could be particularly vulnerable to public spending cuts;

• The government is also capping housing benefit payments from 1st April 2011 which could see a migration to cheaper accommodation in Hastings of claimants priced out of London

The uncertain news

• The government’s decision on the Hastings to Bexhill Link Road means there will be a minimum wait of 12 months before a final decision is made. There is a £600m pot for 22 or more schemes to bid against. The Link Road itself costing £100m is one of these schemes. The government is asking local authorities to consider other funding possibilities;

• The A21 Tonbridge to Pembury dualling is now in a Future Schemes list which will have to wait for the comprehensive spending review after 2015;

• Funding has been approved for the Hastings Academy new build on the Hillcrest secondary school site. For the St Leonards academy an announcement on the substantial refurbishment funding is still awaited;

• Seeda and the other regional development agencies have been abolished to be replaced by local enterprise partnerships. Hastings will be part of the Kent/Essex/East Sussex Local Enterprise Partnership and will press that body to recognise our particular needs;

• The government has set up a new regeneration funding pot – the Regional Growth Fund with £1.4 bill over three years (about a third of the funds that the regional development agencies had). The first round of bids have to be in by 21st January 2011 and Hastings will hope to be part of a successful bid;

• The campaign to save Hastings Pier continues despite the devastating fire. Hopefully we can convince heritage funders to back the restoration;

The good news

• Saga have taken the new office space at 1 Priory Square and will be providing 800 jobs;

• Hastings Direct have expanded their numbers;

• House builders Bellway are on site to starting the first 51 homes as part of the Ore Valley development scheme. This will also see a new road leading to an opened up Ore Station;

• The first four units on the environmental business park off Queensway have been taken;

• The construction of the prestigious Jerwood gallery and the performance space, community facilities and cafĂ© are now well underway with a September 2011 opening;

• The council views cultural regeneration as a key priority and believes that Hastings is better placed than other south east coastal towns

• The possibilities for Hastings town centre look really bright with the new Sussex Coast College, Station Plaza Health Centre and now the second phase of University Centre Hastings under construction and due to open in September 2011 which will see a total of 1,000 higher education students in the town.

Sunday 24 October 2010

What the cuts mean for Hastings

So now we know the worst. Government support to local councils is to be cut by 28% over the next four years. That is more than our worst case planning.


Hastings Borough Council has been working through the impacts of a possible 25% cut by 2014/15 but it is going to be bigger than that. And reductions of that scale cannot be made by efficiencies.

Of course the council must make itself as efficient as possible but a 28% reduction can only mean the council doing less than it does now. Some services may just have to stop, others seriously cut back.

Inevitably there will be less staff working for the council in five years time than there are now, although I and my colleagues will do everything to restrict compulsory redundancies to as few posts as possible.

In our Big Conversation with residents and staff which ends this week we have asked for any other ideas for reducing costs. Could volunteers do more than they already do in parts of the council, could some services be provided totally differently than they are now?

Sunderland council is inviting staff to consider if they would be interested in establishing cost-saving social enterprise businesses, such as community interest companies and co-operatives, which could take over some of the services they currently work in.

It’s possible that Hastings could be hit harder than other councils. Because of our additional needs we receive an additional £3 million per year in extra grants. The main component of that is Working Neighbourhoods Fund. The Chancellor announced in his statement last week that this Fund will be abolished at the end of the financial year.

So we could face the average 28% cut for all councils and see that additional grant just stop dead in April. If this is the case then the perverse result would be areas with greatest needs taking the greatest cut.

The reductions in the government’s main funds to councils might of course be carried out differentially so Hastings is cut less than affluent parts of Surrey, but we won’t know that till December.

Even if we wanted to we can’t make up the shortfall with extra council tax rises. Next year the council tax will be frozen with the government giving us a sum equivalent to a 2.5% rise. In future years the government will set its view on what the council tax increase should be and we could only go above that if residents approved it in a referendum.

All in all this is a very difficult time and some difficult decisions will have to be made. The Big Conversation will help us but in the end I and the other councillors have the duty to set the budget and residents will have to judge if we did our best.

Saturday 9 October 2010

Pier saga

When the phone goes off in the middle of the night you always expect it to be bad news. Last Monday it was – “The Pier’s on fire can you come down?” Of course I did and what I saw were orange flames many feet high devouring the ballroom.


Then they devoured the bridge section (where now there is no sign of a building ever being there), then they devoured the bingo hall section, the front and finally half of the apron buildings.

Going down many times since to speak to TV and radio there has always been a crowd of people just looking in disbelief, horror or almost paying their last respects to an old friend. The Pier really had a place in the hearts of local people because we had all been on it, many people when it really was a fun place – a real seaside attraction.

So what now? While I understand those who have set up the ‘RIP Hastings Pier’ Facebook site, let’s not read the last rites just yet.

The council has commissioned structural engineers who will be down in the next few days to investigate the extent of the damage to the cast iron columns and the substructure. And of course it is what’s underneath that is the Victorian heritage that made the Pier a listed building. What was on top dated from many different eras, even from 1999/2000.

If the substructure is sound the Pier Trust and the council may still be able to find external funders who are committed to preserving the architectural heritage of the Pier. It would take a lot of investment but clearly the only way to maintain that heritage is then to rebuild on top to earn an income from visitors and townspeople alike.

There are no guarantees but we get nowhere without optimism and commitment and the Pier Trust has plenty of that.

So of course those very photogenic pictures of the fire took the front page of the Observer. Any other week the announcement of 800 new jobs for the town would have been the headline.

Saga will become the largest private sector employer in the town. They are purchasing a new office development in the town centre built by the local regeneration company – Seaspace. Work will now start to fit-out the building with Saga planning to start business there by the New Year. The staff will be employed by Saga’s expanding insurance business.

This is the best possible news for the town. After the tragedy of the Pier fire the announcement of substantial new job opportunities is lifting spirits locally. We really welcome Saga, we welcome the jobs and the boost they will bring to the local economy.

The success in attracting Saga proves the validity of the regeneration programme. The town centre office space was built precisely to attract quality businesses to Hastings – in Saga we have got just that.

I believe Hastings is really on the up. 800 new jobs on the way, the nationally significant Jerwood gallery due to open next year, the university centre second phase going up before our eyes. And we still haven’t given up on Hastings Pier

Tuesday 5 October 2010

Big Conversation - we're listening

The Big Conversation is well and truly under way. 1,200 questionnaires have been returned already and it runs till the end of the month. I have never known any consultation the council has conducted that has achieved this sort of result.

I am really pleased it has because it shows just how much local people care about public services and how they understand the difficulty we as councillors have responding to the cuts the government is planning.

But it’s not just the questionnaires it’s the chance to talk with residents. Last Saturday we took the Big Conversation to Kings Road. Some people wanted to talk to us about other matters – parking, dog fouling and individual concerns they had – and that’s fine. But overwhelmingly people appreciated that we were consulting them. Many had filled the forms out already, others did on the spot. There are other dates and venues coming up and they are all on the council website. Do come along if you want to chat to us.

But what about those thorny questions:

How much has it costed and where’s the money come from? Writing to every household has cost £17,000, but how else do you really reach everyone. The money had already been put in this year’s budget by the previous council leadership. They wanted to employ an outside company to do detailed market research interviews with 250 residents. I would rather speak to 2,500 and do the job in-house.

Are you really going to listen? We will publish the results of the Big Conversation, so when we finally set the budget everyone can see whether we listened. But in determining the budget we will also be looking at the priorities we put before the electorate back in May, the exact financial position which we don’t yet know and the implications of decisions – no point in cutting a service only to find it costs more somewhere else.

There’s not enough detail, especially on cost of services. There’s only so much information you can get into a four-page form and anything bigger might have meant less people would have had the time to read it. If anyone wants more information let us know, either in person at the Big Conversation events or E-mail bigconversation@hastings.gov.uk

Haven’t you already decided what you you’re going to do, like closing the Information Centre? The suggestion that we are just going to get rid of an information centre and the staff in it is utter and complete rubbish. I guarantee we will be keeping an information centre in the town and staffing it. There has been a discussion about whether we could relocate it. But when we are looking at spending cuts we would be wrong not to consider options. No decision has been made on possible relocation and I very much welcome residents’ comments as part of the Big Conversation.

Isn’t the council overstaffed, so why not just cut the numbers? We will have to look at every council service whether it is a statutory or discretionary to see if it can be provided more efficiently. The Big Conversation asks for comments on particular services and how much residents value them. They are all of course provided by council staff. Reducing any of those services means reducing the council staff who provide them. The question is what services are most essential or most valued.

Any other questions just ask away but most important use the Big Conversation to let us know what you think.

Sunday 12 September 2010

The art of budgeting


Is this art; is it graffiti; should it be preserved; should it be cleaned off? Whatever your view it was certainly news. Once it was confirmed as a genuine Banksy, the council made sure it was protected.


Along with Ben Eine’s mural on Norman Road Hastings could boast works by the two best known street artists in the country. Other towns must have been green with envy when the read about it in the papers.

Our town really hit the headlines this Summer with more than 6,000 pirates smashing the world record and Newsnight ‘adopting’ one of our roundabouts. We must have got more column inches in the national press and more TV time than any other town of our size.

And if Hastings comes across as a bit different, a bit quirky then that’s our unique selling point.

But as Autumn creeps in our minds are turning to more challenging issues. The government has announced there will be serious reductions in spending for local councils. We don’t know how serious but we are having to plan for a 25% reduction in income over the next four years and we want your help in determining how it will have to be done.

When we were elected we promised to “Involve local people in debating alternative options” so we will be holding a Big Conversation with the people of the town. We want to hear your thoughts.

What should our priorities be? What services do you value the most and would least like to see cut?

Perhaps you feel passionately that maintaining our parks and open spaces is a necessity or perhaps you’ve got some ideas on how we can cut back our spending in this area.

Over the coming few weeks you should have a letter through your door explaining how to contribute to the Big Conversation. We are organising road shows at a shopping centre near you – Tesco’s, the Priory Meadow. Kings Road. And there will be ‘meet the leader’ sessions around the town.

We want you to feel you have all your questions answered and all the information you need to give us a really informed view. And of course you can always find more information about on our website: www.hastings.gov.uk.

When we finally set the budget with however much money we are left with we will be guided by – your comments in this consultation and what we promised to deliver when we were elected

Sunday 15 August 2010

Don't let Hastings go to the dogs

Is this poster offensive? It’s being pasted on to the council’s billboards along the seafront and elsewhere. But will it help change the culture of owners allowing their animals to foul the pavement/beach/park (delete where applicable)?


Its all part of the council’s get tough approach to dog fouling, litter, flytipping etc that we outlined in the programme for the year adopted at the annual council meeting just after the elections in May.

Now I enjoy discussing world affairs or our vision for Hastings but I appreciate that when I knock on residents’ doors what they often want to talk about is what they see when that front door is opened – and dog fouling is part of their daily experience and they expect the council to act. So we will.

The new hard-hitting posters, the car stickers with the same wording, some friendlier but equally challenging stickers for children and the street stalls being held round the town mark the get tough campaign.

I helped out at the street stall in the town centre on 14th August and everyone I spoke to was happy with the message and the wording – many took car stickers so they must agree with what is being said.

But does the council really do anything about it – well 250 on the spot fines have been handed out in the last two years at £75 a time and that’s before the get tough campaign has kicked in.

Of course it can be difficult to catch some of the culprits (that’s the irresponsible owner not the dog). So if there’s a particular time when you know this happens in your area let the council know (0800 0854 500)and the community officers (or wardens as many know them) will come along at that time in plain clothes and take whatever action is required.

Similar steps are being taken with flyposting. Pubs and bars are being written to and told that if there is flyposting that advertises events in their premises they can be prosecuted.

Cleaning up the town is what the overwhelming majority of local people want but it’s also part of making Hastings more prosperous. If we want people to visit, move here, open a business here then we can’t tolerate rubbish or dog fouling on our streets.

As someone said to me on the street stall - it’s not the poster that’s offensive but what she has to walk around on the pavement is.

Friday 30 July 2010

Meeting the community


On Saturday evening July 17th I was to be found controlling the road barrier at the junction of St Margaret’s Road and Warrior Square (East) – the council leader really was manning a barricade. It was the St Leonards festival and as a local Central St Leonards councillor I was happy to do my stint as a steward. Now we look forward to Old Town Week. In fact every weekend there are events, festivals, fetes etc.


What they all have in common is that members of the community run them. The council might help out with publicity or road closures but if it wasn’t for volunteers giving up their time and effort none of them would happen.

Along with deputy leader Cllr Jay Kramer I have been meeting with voluntary groups over the last week. We have seen the Community Network, the Intercultural Organisation, the Rainbow Alliance, the Senior’s Forum, the Youth Council, the Inter-faith Forum, and the Disability Forum. We haven’t necessarily finished there. If any other community organisation would like to meet with us let us know.

The aim of the meetings was for us as the newly re-elected council leadership to outline our vision and plans. The policies we stood for election on have now been endorsed by the council and we believe we have a mandate to implement them. But we also wanted to hear the plans and priorities of these various groups and see where we could collaborate.

The discussions were very illuminating. The need for meeting places was a common theme and the need to be properly involved and not just treated as a consultation box to be ticked was raised. But they all welcomed the chance to let the council leadership know first hand what they felt.

However, we had another job – to make the community sector aware of the serious financial challenge facing the council and the town. With the government’s intention to cut public spending we are having to plan for a 25% cut in the council’s income. No area of our activity can be untouchable; we have to review everything we do.

But we want the people of Hastings to help us prioritise these activities. In September and October we will be holding a big conversation giving every resident the chance to tell us what council services they value the most and would least like to see reduced.

So when you see us out on all the community events feel free to let us know right now where you would like money to be directed in this difficult financial climate.

The photo shows myself and Mayor Cllr Kim Forward with artist Maggi Hambling, gallery director-designate Liz Gilmore and Jerwood Foundation chair Alan Grieve at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Jerwood Gallery on the Stade.

Saturday 17 July 2010

Cleaning up Hastings (including roundabouts)

I have ritually handed over the ‘keys’ to the Pelham roundabout (that’s the one with the fountain) to BBC Newsnight. To try and show what the ‘Big Society’ means, armed with a broom, they have adopted it. If they don’t actually do anything I will be writing to the Director General demanding some action. Our roundabout it not to be messed with!


In the real world we have be getting tougher on keeping Hastings clean. And there are two reasons why we need to. As residents we all have a right to expect it. But it’s also about presenting an image to visitors and would-be investors that Hastings and St Leonards is their sort of place. Dealing with litter, dogs, street drinking, tatty buildings etc is part of creating a more prosperous town.

So with other councillors and council officers I repeated the seafront ‘grotbuster’ walk that I first did in 2000.

I noted down every building needing repair or redecoration and owners will now receive a letter encouraging them to take action. Failing to respond could result in enforcement action. If you own a building in our town you have a social responsibility for its upkeep.

When we did the first seafront walk we noted the derelict hulks of the Queen’s Hotel, Regent Court and the Marlborough, plus other smaller eyesores too. All those have been dealt with and the seafront looks much better. But with the salt air, buildings in this prominent location need regular maintenance and improvement.

A high profile walk sets the tone and reminds everyone what we expect. The ‘grotbusters’ are on the case.

Then I had a meeting with our local police commander Chief Inspector Mark Ling to agree a get tough approach to street drinking and begging. We get complaints from residents who feel intimidated by groups of drinkers and by aggressive begging. They also complain of offensive behaviour by individual drinkers.

A dispersal area has been declared on the promenade enabling the police to move drinkers on and this is being enforced. Twenty two of the thirty four anti-social behaviour orders in the town have been issued to street drinkers.

At the meeting we agreed to step up the joint enforcement activity between the police, the council and other agencies. We want a harder line to be taken by off-licenses with habitual drinkers. Just like the Bar Watch scheme, which agrees that named individuals will not be served in town centre pubs, so off-licenses will be pressed not to serve the well-known street drinkers? Habitual Drink Orders will be considered which make it an offence to sell alcohol to a named habitual drinker.

There are now more detox opportunities and improved funding for those organisations working with drinkers and we want to encourage street drinkers to take up these opportunities.

Finally during the Summer months we will be launching a crack-down against dog fouling with some pretty hard-hitting posters and leaflets. Keep your eyes open – otherwise you might tread in something.



The photo shows me outside one of the buildings we noted down on the ‘grotbuster’ walk.

Sunday 4 July 2010

Leader of the council again – for a whole two months. We want to meet with everyone and they want to talk with us. We are meeting with community groups, business groups, young people etc to explain our vision for the town and to listen to what they feel should be the priorities for Hastings. (If any community group feel they would like to let us know their thoughts please get in touch). We are also going to address the whole council workforce – the people actually doing the jobs in the council are probably the real experts.


But just going round all the community events of the last few weeks – in Alexandra Park, in Broomgrove, on the West Hill or in the America Ground – residents want to tell us how they feel things could improve and we are only too happy to listen.

Should the whole of Robertson Street be pedestrianised; are begging and street drinking been tackled hard enough; has Ore Village been overlooked; couldn’t we do more with the old Waterworks Road depot site; and of course parking and many other issues too numerous to list.

It certainly takes longer walking around town when you are in control – but isn’t leadership about hearing what others have to say and trying to integrate the best ideas with the policies you were elected on.

Becoming leader in 2010 is not going to be same though as when I first took the position ten years ago. That marked the start of the major regeneration investment in the town by the government. And the council was one of the best funded nationally.

With talk of 25% or even 40% public spending cuts all that has changed. Running the council now might be less about where would we like to spend more money and rather where might we have to spend less.

This is going to affect all of us. So after the Summer holidays we are going to hold a ‘Big Conversation’ with the people of the town – tell us what your priorities would be if government grants to the council are to be seriously cut back. What are the things you would never want to see reduced? We will be using the council’s About magazine and the local media to let you know just how difficult the situation could be and for you to let us know what you think can be done.

But for now the weather is still good, there are still lots of Summer activities to enjoy and Hastings is still a great place to live.

(The photo is of me being quizzed by the Helenswood Year 9 newsroom)