Tuesday 17 December 2013

2013 Round Up


"Hastings and St Leonards have positive and varied character, a proactive and collaborative council with a lively mix of trusts and charities contributing to the town’s regeneration. The towns have an authentic sense of distinctiveness.” 

So said the judges of this year’s Great Town Award where our town came second out of 74 nominations. 

We also had a crack at becoming UK city of culture 2017. And all this gets national recognition for Hastings as a distinctive, cultural, improving place to visit, live, study or invest in. The Jerwood Gallery’s posters on many stations on the line from Charing Cross help with our image too.
 
So, 2013 was another year of revival and improvement for the town.

Visitors to the town have continued to grow; jobs have increased. Jerwood celebrated their first anniversary; our university centre its tenth and the opening of its new Priory Square building. The council compulsorily purchased Hastings Pier and work has begun on its restoration.
 
2014 will see the biggest investment in our town centre since Priory Meadow opened, new monies going into the fishing quarter and grants for creative businesses. And our plans for a cultural celebration of 950 years since 1066 will take shape.
 
The social challenges in Hastings have not vanished; the council is facing big financial difficulties but our town continues to move forward.

Tuesday 12 November 2013

Hastings is Great

Glyn Carter, Monica Adams-Acton, Councillor Chowney
and Councillor Jeremy Birch at the Urbanism Awards


So Hastings and St Leonards were pipped at the post for the Great Town 2014 award. The Academy of Urbanism shortlisted our town down to the final three and invited us to their awards ceremony along with Buxton and Cork.

It really was like being at the Oscars. I’d worked out what I would say if we were called up as winners. 
 
The chief reviewer gave his comments on the strengths of each of the three and was very generous in what he said about us. “Have we got it” I wondered. Then that slight pause after “and the winner is”…Cork.

So yes after all the build up and all that nervous energy it was a bit deflating but not for long. Seventy four towns were considered for this year’s prestigious honour and we were there in the top three.

The delegation from the Academy visited the town back in the Summer – although unfortunately it rained for most of their visit which showed up in the photos on the big screen at the awards ceremony. We entertained them at the Jerwood Gallery in the company of representatives of different public organisations and community bodies in the town.

Their conclusions included really complementary conclusions like:

“Hastings is a name with high recognition, nationally and to some extent internationally; an advantage to this resort on the south coast of England, striving to attract investment, political attention and visitors. Hastings and St Leonards have positive and varied character, a proactive and collaborative council with a lively mix of trusts and charities
contributing to the town’s regeneration. The cultural offer of Hastings and St Leonards is seen by all as a key element of the regeneration of the town. The privately funded Jerwood
Gallery is a recent asset to the town, attracting visitors from far and wide. Its outreach to the local community perhaps might be developed further. There is a positive strategy in Hastings of supporting events and festivals throughout the year to ‘stretch’ the attraction to visitors.”
 
Had I been called to respond on our behalf as the winning town I would have said we hope we are an example of a socially challenged town trying to regenerate itself without losing its essential identity. And I would have talked about the opportunities culture and the arts are offering us.

The city of culture judges recognised that in our bid for that accolade for 2017.

Celebrating the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings and working to realise our cultural potential as a means to continue reviving the town go together. So despite the borough council’s on-going financial challenges we are looking to put one-off money into making the most of 2016 and looking for serious public and private sponsorship.

The Academy and the city of culture judges all recognised just what Hastings can become. 

Even in these difficult times I want to make sure we get there.

And of course being Hastings born and bred I’ve always known we’re a Great Town.

Monday 30 September 2013

Specially Successful September



Councillor Jeremy Birch speaking at the Composers' Festival

"This morning I opened the refurbishments at Summerfields Leisure Centre and the free family fun day. Then I visited the Moveable Feast community garden open day and enjoyed the lunch. In the afternoon I dropped into the Hullabaloo at St Mary in the Castle and also enjoyed the Bodies in Urban Spaces event in the town centre as part of our Coastal Currents Arts Festival. This evening we were all wowed by the aerial performance of As the World Tipped on the Stade. What other town of our size can offer anything like this? Hastings - Famously Cultural and Famously Fun"

That was my comment about just one breathless September Saturday.

The previous night I had opened Coastal Currents and reminded everyone just how important the town’s cultural success is to our all-round regeneration. And this year’s Coastal Currents really has been a great success.

The weekend before I had opened our eighth seafood and wine festival which again was a great success. My rather corny speech concluded with “Hastings – Famously Fresh and Famously Fishy."

The weekend before that I was one of the opening speakers at the International Composers’ Festival at St Mary’s. How pleasurable it was not just to applaud the music and the musicians but the composers too who were with us in the audience.

I have also had a chance this month to appreciate the rich mix that now makes up our town. I spoke at the start of the Intercultural Organisation’s football tournament with players from many different backgrounds participating and I opened the Hope G  multicultural older people’s day. And of course September has seen the start of Black History Month with Afrikaba locally.

And the understanding of the importance of business has also been to the fore with our vacuum engineering cluster fair and I spoke at the evening reception for delegates stressing the Hastings – Famously Innovative theme.

It might have been an especially busy September but with so much positive activity in our town surely an improving future is ours.

Tuesday 10 September 2013

An Autumn of Action!


As the night’s draw in and Summer holiday memories fade away, Hastings Borough Council is gearing up for a period of intense activity during the Autumn months.

First of all we’ve just launched our Switched-On Hastings scheme. The aim is to secure cheaper energy bills for local residents. Anyone that pays their own household electricity or gas bills including those on pre-payment meters can register their interest in the scheme. By providing the largest possible number of registered residents we will aim to get the best collective deal out of an auction with the energy companies.

The lowest tariff wins the auction and this is then offered to those who have registered. Once the auction has taken place on 16 October, personal letters and emails will be sent to each registered resident explaining what the lowest offer is. There is no obligation to accept the offer but hopefully there will be some significant reductions on offer.

Then by later October new collection arrangements will kick-in for all our waste and recycling. Leaflets preparing everyone have already started to go out. The changes will include doorstep collection of glass, the acceptance of nearly all plastics, tetrapaks etc in the recycling and the distribution of 7,000 seagull-proof bags to most properties in the black bag areas.

These changes will be coming in from 21st October although the new boxes for glass and the seagull-proof bags should be distributed before then. The aim of these is to almost double Hastings recycling rate to 50%. The aim is also to improve street cleanliness by having our waste in bins or in the new seagull-proof bags.

On 18th October with the police we will be launching a ban on the sale of the heavy duty beers and ciders – above 6.5%. The ban will affect all off-licences in Central St Leonards, the town centre and the Old Town. Although it is a voluntary ban it will be backed up with the power to review the licenses of any establishment that doesn’t join in and then attracts nuisance and anti-social behaviour.

At our cabinet on 4th November we are going to be discussing registering all privately-rented property in the town to give the council more control over housing conditions and the management of rented properties, whether large or small.

Linked to this we are preparing to convene a conference before Xmas of seaside towns along with London boroughs to discuss the potential problem of families on benefits being sent out of higher-rent areas into places like Hastings.

And we are working up the plans to introduce electronic signs to indicate which car parks are full and directing drivers to the other car parks, improved signage for pedestrians to find their way round the town (including from car parks once they’ve parked), new paving for the town centre to get rid of the patchwork of black top and red top and improvements to the shopping area.

Pretty quiet time all in all!

Wednesday 14 August 2013

Handing over the Pier


Councillor Jeremy Birch hands over the Pier

When I was 16 I had a job for the Summer sweeping up on Hastings Pier – my special skill was using a scraper attached to a broom handle for taking the chewing gum off the floor. 

Now I can pick up my broom handle again, return to those decks for Hastings Pier is set to rise up from the ashes.

The town said it wanted the Pier restored – and the council and the Pier Trust have made sure it can happen.

The council’s compulsory purchase was completed and the Pier handed over to the Pier Trust who can now start to utilise the £13 million they have mainly from Heritage Lottery, but with other funds from the council and from bids we have put in for them.

Everyone who has been involved in the Pier Trust over a number of years has done a fantastic job. They kept the faith even when we stood helpless watching the flames consume one section after another on that night in 2010.

Just imagine what our seafront would be like if the Pier wasn’t restored but just rotted and disintegrated bit by bit with every Autumn storm. As it became more dangerous we might have had to put up the millions needed to demolish it.

Instead it will be restored and become an attraction again. New businesses will be looking to locate on the Pier and others will see that part of the seafront as a new, reviving area to put their money into. It can help draw visitors further along our seafront to White Rock and towards St Leonards.

Some national newspapers wrote when they printed those very photogenic pictures of the Pier fire that its destruction was symptomatic of the decline of the seaside resort and of Hastings. Well we can show them that the repair and re-opening of our Pier is an indication of the revival of Hastings.

Of course the transfer of ownership and the starting of repair work is only a beginning. Further investment is needed to create the attractions and venues that the Pier will need to make the difference to the seafront that we all want.

But we are on the way. Now where’s that chewing gum scraper gone.

Friday 2 August 2013

Are you satisfied?

It's a question we and our partner organisations ask thousands of residents every two years as part of a survey that's designed to help us improve and refine our services.

This time we're calling the survey Our Work, Your Life because each of the services we provide is connected in some way to everyday life in Hastings & St Leonards. 

Whether it's keeping our parks clear of litter and running regular community events on the Stade, or dealing with planning applications and helping get young people get their first job, our services are important to the residents of this town. 

But there are always things that can be improved or adjusted. That's why we need you to help us fine tune the work we do.I won't settle for services that are anything less than the best they can be and neither should you. 

So please tell us what you think via our short survey. We'll even enter you into a prize draw for up to £100 in shopping vouchers! 

Thursday 27 June 2013

Facing up to the financial challenge

Naturally I am worried about the latest public spending cuts announced by Chancellor George Osborne in his comprehensive spending review.


Local government takes the largest reduction with a 10% cut in 2015/16 on top of the 33% cut it has already experienced. But things are worse for Hastings. The council has already had to cope with a 50% cut in the grants it receives from central government since 2010; 10% more will be very challenging.

This is because the extra grants the council has received due to the town’s extra needs have been cut still more extensively. Hastings is one of seven councils that have experienced the largest reduction in revenue spending power. And the remaining extra grant the council gets (for efficiency support) runs out in 2015 – so that could really be a very difficult budget year.

For the current financial year 2013/14 the council had to shed 40 posts (although we managed to limit the number of compulsory redundancies to less than a handful) and in fact employs about one third less staff than in 2010.

Hastings is more vulnerable to cuts in government grants than other south eastern councils as half its income comes from the government. Other areas with more properties in higher council tax bands raise more money from their local people. In Hastings most properties are in council tax bands A and B and the tax is based on the value of people’s homes.

Also we are quite a constrained local authority area – surrounded by the sea and areas of outstanding natural beauty. That means our capacity to allow for new housing is much less than some leafier areas. But the government incentives councils to allow for more housebuilding by paying a new homes bonus for each new home. So Hastings stands to make a lot less than others through this funding source.

Yet at the same time demand on council services is rising with homelessness figures rising for example, with residents facing more challenges retaining their homes with welfare and benefit changes.

But we haven’t just been sitting back and complaining. Our two major contracts – for waste collection and for parks and gardens – have been relet in partnership with other councils saving us £1m a year. We have re-organised the senior management in the council saving £350,000 a year and we have looked at every area of our activity to make it as efficient as possible.

But from 2015 I am still worried that whereas up to now we have asked local people which services they would least like to see reduced, with our income continuing to decline we may have to look at which services do we cease to deliver at all.



Wednesday 19 June 2013

City of culture - the work goes on

Another cultural evening at Stade Saturdays
Unfortunately we've just missed out on being shortlisted for the UK City of Culture - the final four are Dundee, Leicester, Hull and Swansea. I believe from a standing start  a real quality bid was worked up in a short space of time. Local authority staff, our cultural advisers, our schools and many local people put a lot of effort in to make the bid what it was. We cannot let that momentum dissipate.

Some really outstanding ideas emerged from all that energy. The cultural collaboration agreed between our secondary schools, the idea of putting artists or performers into every school really stand out. And on the national plane the idea of the cultural long-march from Stamford Bridge in Yorkshire down to Hastings, retreading the steps of Harold and his army in 1066, really gripped the imagination.

We may not be the city of culture but Hastings with its surrounding 1066 area remains the most famous town in the country. We intend to build on that and on the enthusiasm created locally by the bid to see which of the projects in the bid we can still deliver. But we are looking now to 2016 - the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings. We only went with 2017 because that was the city of culture year.

I believe the Hastings and 1066 brand can still get public and private funding for major cultural initiatives even without the city of culture badge, And that’s the challenge now before us,

And don’t forget we have been shortlisted for the Academy of Urbanism top town award and we find out if we have got that in November. In fact I had to appear on BBC Radio Derby to discuss our merits along with representatives of the other two on the shortlist, Buxton and Cork.

Just going for the city of culture has put us on the map, has raised the positive profile of Hastings in TV, radio and the press. We couldn’t have paid for the publicity it has brought us. Now we will work up our own plans to continue promoting this image recognising that culture remains a vital lever to move our area on.



Friday 14 June 2013

A week in the life of a city of culture

The opening of the Jerwood Gallery
With just days to go before the UK City of Culture 2017 shortlist is announced, Hastings & 1066 Country is celebrating a week of top news to strengthen its case to be included in the final four.

In the last few days TV and radio star Graham Norton has added his public endorsement for the bid, joining Keane and Eddie Izzard who have already pledged their support. “Being named city of culture is an enormous honour for any area but I can think of nowhere more deserving than 1066 country,” Graham enthused. “Bexhill and Hastings and the surrounding areas are packed to bursting with energy, creativity and attractions. Make it official and declare 1066 country the City of Culture.”

Part of the attractions and creativity is the town's Jerwood Gallery with its nationally important collection of 20th and 21st century art. This week the building has been recognised for its architectural excellence in the Royal Institute of British Architects annual awards.

Just along the seafront from Jerwood is the location for a major new public art feature and again just this week the winning design has been announced. By next Spring Henry Krokatsis’ Helter Skelter will be in place – a 13-metre high commission that will really stand out on the shoreline. A little further along the promenade is the burnt out Hastings Pier and the Pier Trust has just announced that the restoration and rebuilding will start by the end of July.

Just one of these events would be news in itself, but to get three major announcements in as many days is quite incredible, and is evidence of just how strong our bid is. And only a week ago Hastings was voted finalist in the top town category by the prestigious Academy of Urbanism.

There is already huge interest in our bid with its 1066 cultural long march retreading Harold’s steps of 950 years and groundbreaking plans to develop world class cultural education in our local schools

Large cities would be proud of achievements such as these, and we've done all this ourselves. I say let us be UK City of Culture 2017 and we will really put on a show that won't be forgotten!

Friday 17 May 2013

Programme for an interventionist council

At the mayor-making lunch
If it’s May it must be the council’s annual meeting. We hold this in two parts – the first being the ceremonial with the election of the mayor and deputy mayor, Cllrs Roberts and Dowling respectively this year.

This was followed by a lunch (which we all paid for if anyone is in doubt) with food from several countries allowing us to slightly adapt our community cohesion slogan to “One Hastings, many flavours.” There was also entertainment from different communities and cultures within the town.

The second part of the annual meeting is the political part where I as council leader outline the programme for the year.

I outlined how over the next year Hastings Borough Council will continue to be an interventionist council, getting stuck in to improve the town and its residents’ prospects. It’s this willingness to act determinedly and decisively that marks out this council leadership from others.

We will compulsorily purchase the Pier to allow work to start to restore this key seafront structure. We will get 50 or more scruffy or derelict buildings improved by our grotbuster squad. We will continue our programme of bringing long-term empty homes back into use, including by the threat of compulsory purchase. Number 4 Southwater Road has just been compulsorily purchased and two more properties will be similarly dealt with very soon.

The council will license another 250 houses in multiple occupation in the next year, to improve conditions for private tenants. And in Central St Leonards the Coastal Space scheme will see a number of privately rented properties purchased and taken on by Amicus Horizon housing association.

The council will be looking into establishing its own lettings agency for accredited local landlords to ensure a better deal for them and their tenants. We will be studying how some other councils have gone done this path.

Our new street cleaning and waste collection contract starts this Summer and it will offer improvements to keeping the town clean but will also introduce doorstep recycling of glass and of a wider range of plastics. Seagull-proof bags will be distributed widely in those parts of town without wheelie bins.

We plan to step up the pressure for more 20mph speed limits in the borough on residential streets where there is the support from local residents. And our Switched On Hastings initiative will offer local people cheaper energy bills through collective switching to the company offering the best bulk purchase deal.

Our council has a programme for the revival of our town, for raising its image nationally especially by promoting our cultural offer, for attracting in new investment, for improving the employability of local people especially the young.

We will intervene to make Hastings and St Leonards cleaner, safer, more prosperous and more contented.



Wednesday 8 May 2013

Hastings at odds with William Hill

Bookmakers William Hill have placed the Hastings city of culture bid as a 25 to 1 outsider to win the prize.
Jeremy Birch in the Jack in the Green parade

One might ask what does William Hill know about culture; I doubt they have read our bid or know much about what goes on in our community. On the other hand it might be very good odds come November if we were to be named the winner. This year’s Grand National winner was originally quoted at 66 to 1 by William Hill.

I’m sure the other city of culture bidders who have been given closer odds to win have very good bids but I think ours will take some beating.

The weekend these odds appeared was the Jack in the Green Festival. Up to 20,000 people watched with around 10, 000 enjoying the finale on the West Hill, which overlooks our harbour and historic fishing fleet, the largest beach-launched fleet in Europe. The same day we entertained 30,000 bikers.

What town in the world could rival that mixture?

Festivals and street processions are an essential part of the culture of our community. We've got Bonfire Night, which we celebrate to mark Hastings Day in October, with over a thousand burning torches being paraded through the streets by various local groups, all in their own distinctive costumes, to rhythmic drumming; that can attract 30,000 spectators too.

We hold our Seafood and Wine Festival in September, showcasing our local produce and the Herring Fair in November.

Quality visual and performing arts are represented by the Jerwood Gallery with its nationally renowned 20th and 21st century collection and De La Warr Pavilion. And with work about to start on rebuilding our pier we will have our traditional seaside icon ready to open well before 2017.

Our bid has plans for a series of spectacular events in 2017 as city of culture. The English language and culture could be said to have begun in 1066. It all began in Hastings and in 2017 a cultural renaissance can begin again here.


Sunday 24 March 2013

Hastings not a dump - it's official


Introducing David Amess to the Hastings fishermen

So Southend MP David Amess thinks Hastings is an improving and “vibrant” town – a little different to his original suggestion that some of Southend’s cultural rivals like us were “absolute dumps.”

I invited him down so he could see first-hand what we have to offer. We showed him round the Jerwood Gallery, we showed him the fishing beach and he chatted to the fishermen. We told him about our history, architecture, natural environment, artistic traditions, music scene and our annual calendar of festivals and processions - in fact everything that adds up to the Hastings cultural offer.

If that hadn’t convinced him we weren’t an absolute dump then I don’t know what would.

But will it be convincing enough for the panel that advises on the UK city of culture? We are putting a bid in for Hastings and Bexhill to get that prize for 2017. Do we really have a chance?

Well you don’t have to be a city – Southend isn’t, nor is East Kent which is also bidding and the two cities of Southampton/Portsmouth are putting in one bid.

I believe we have a good enough cultural story to tell to put forward a meaningful bid. Perhaps we wouldn’t have had five years ago, but today our bid can include Jerwood just celebrating its first birthday in Hastings, the work to restore our Pier hopefully starting by mid-year, the public consultation on a major art feature on Pelham roundabout. So actually the bid is coming just at the right time for us.

Will we win – who knows? It depends what the judges are looking for. If they want an area with geographical integrity that has placed culture, in all its many facets, at the heart of its regeneration programme then our bid could be a strong one.

Whatever happens we are making a statement about where Hastings and Bexhill believes it is going; about the cultural company we are now in. And the greater that is recognised, the better our external image is, the more people will be interested in visiting here, moving here and investing here and bringing jobs here. This is about the general prosperity of our area.

And what encouraged me was how local people rallied round the town and its bid when the MP for Southend appeared to criticise us.



Tuesday 5 March 2013

Famously cultural


 
A couple of years ago BBC’s Newsnight ‘adopted’ our seafront roundabout with the fountain as its centre piece. It was a stunt to demonstrate if the big society could takeover and run council functions. I had to ceremonially hand them the ‘key to the roundabout’ – thought quite what they were going to unlock I don’t know.

But that roundabout is in a very high profile position on the seafront between old and new towns. What a fantastic location for something really special. And that’s what Hastings is going to get.

Thanks to the very substantial generosity of the Fairlight Arts Trust set up by David and Sarah Kowitz a major new piece of public art is to be created in the middle of the roundabout. Two internationally renowned artists have been shortlisted and their designs will now be going on public display so we can all think about what is on offer. Then one of the designs will become the chosen art feature. The council will make sure the appearance of the roundabout itself is appropriate to welcome the art feature. I expect national interest in this major art installation and once more our town will be centre stage.

Just think – a year ago the Jerwood Gallery opened also helping to put us very much on the national cultural map. The gallery’s exhibition has just been totally refreshed with other paintings from Jerwood’s permanent collection. And I hope everyone has voted for the gallery to host the Museums at Night an event with Turner Prize nominees the Hastings born and bred Jake and Dinos Chapman.

Back in time a little further about two and half years ago – the town again hit the national headline as fire engulfed our Victorian Pier. Now with the success of the bid to Heritage Lottery and the council’s bid for Coastal Communities money, the Pier Trust is almost at the point of setting the start date for work to restore the Pier.

So Jerwood and the cultural and historic Stade, the Pelham roundabout with an international quality art feature and then on to a restored Pier – that will be some promenade. Won’t people outside the town be talking about Hastings?

Friday 18 January 2013

Budget Blog


Hastings Borough Council is facing an unprecedented financial challenge – not just for the coming year but for the foreseeable future. We have now published our spending plans for 2013-14 and will be listening to residents’ and businesses’ comments before agreeing the final budget on 27th February.

With reductions in funding from central government the council is facing an 8.8% cut in its revenue spending power for next year – the maximum reduction the government has set and the largest in the South of England.

Since 2010 the council has seen a 50% real term reduction in funding from central government once inflation is taken into account (39% in cash terms).

We have already taken major steps to make ourselves more efficient – centralising all council staff in just two buildings (Aquila House and the Town Hall) and sharing some services with other councils.We have saved £1 million a year from reletting our major contracts jointly with other councils for waste collection and for parks and gardens. We have re-organised our senior staff structure saving £375,000. And there was no pay rise for staff again last year. But all of this has only gone some way to balancing our budget.

To bridge the gap, we are proposing to lose 40 posts (12 of them currently vacant), increase fees and charges (planning fees will rise by 15%), reduce our tourism budget by £50,000 and reduce our support for events by £20,000. We are also proposing to reduce grants to the voluntary sector by 8.8% in line with the cut in our revenue spending power. Proposed new arrangements for the housing register could save over £50,000.

Parking charges in the council’s car parks have not risen for two years but we are proposing to increase them by 10p an hour and then freeze them for two years again. This would help to fund the continuation of CCTV in the car parks.
 
For over ten years CCTV monitoring in Hastings has partly been supported from the surplus made from on-street parking charges. The County Council has taken back responsibility for on-street parking and handed over enforcement to a private company NSL. The County Council will no longer allow on-street parking income to be used for community safety purposes in the town. Parking charges in the Country Park will increase from £1 to £2 for a full day but with no change to the £25 annual season ticket.

However, there will be no increase in council tax this year – it last rose four years ago. We will be taking up the government’s offer of a grant equivalent to a 1% council tax rise and that means a 12-month freeze for the council taxpayer.

If you have thoughts about our budget proposals feel free to let us know in our draft budget consultation.






Wednesday 2 January 2013

Will the sun shine on us in 2013?

Waiting for the Hastings v Middlesborough tie to get underway
2013 opened with glorious sunshine. On New Year’s Day the seafront was packed with promenaders as if it were a Summer’s day. The sun had appeared after what seemed weeks of being hidden behind rain clouds and stormy winds. Tragically 2012 had ended with one of the council’s close friends and collaborators sadly losing their life after an incident on that same seafront. Fran McKeown of Hastings Voluntary Action died despite the best efforts of the emergency services and passers-by to save her. She will be remembered with affection and gratitude by many of us in the town.

So what does 2013 hold for us? Will the sun continue to shine on Hastings?

We are all eagerly awaiting work commencing to restore our Pier with the council completing the compulsory purchase now that the Heritage Lottery has come up with the £11.4 million. The calendar of festivals and events is already prepared from Fat Tuesday in February, through Jack in the Green on May Day, right through to the Seafood and Wine Festival and a second Herring Fair. And the free entertainment offered by Stade Saturdays will continue for a second year from May to September. I’m sure the new management arrangements for St Mary in the Castle will really come into their own in 2013.
 
The council will carry on getting stuck in to derelict and scruffy buildings and just now work is underway on some of the most prominent of them – like the Congregational Church on Pevensey Road and buildings on Robertson Terrace and Eversfield Place. In Ore Valley we intend going through with the compulsory purchase and demolition of the eyesore that is the old Malvern pub with the aim of creating new houses on the site.

The council will also be launching a second round of its mortgage deposit scheme offering first time buyers of existing properties the chance to get a mortgage with just a 5% deposit and not the 25% they have been fearing. We are also looking to press ahead with a major scheme with a housing association to buy up privately rented houses in multiple occupation in Central St Leonards, improve them, and change them to larger flats aiming at a more settled community.

Our new waste contract negotiated jointly with other East Sussex councils starts in the middle of this year and will bring with it doorstep collection of glass as well as of a wider number of plastics and other recyclates. But whatever the weather forecast for the town there is a dark cloud hanging over the council with the government’s financial settlement for local authorities. While we welcome the prospect of a new Efficiency Support Grant Hastings Borough Council is still facing the largest reduction in its revenue spending power of any council in the south of England.

We will carry on trying to make ourselves as efficient as possible but the budget for 2013 will inevitably see rises in some fees and charges, reductions in some council services and fewer people employed by the council. Inevitably local people will feel the impact of these changes however much we try to shield them.

There will be some major challenges in 2013 but the council leadership remains optimistic and ambitious for the town and its future.