Council offices renamed Muriel Matters House

http://www.hastings.gov.uk/press_media/archive/2016/pr_20161219/

Hastings Borough Council offices on Hastings seafront have been renamed Muriel Matters House.

The building formerly known as Aquila House has undergone massive refurbishment over the last 18 months creating bright, new, modern offices and a welcoming Tourist Information Centre. Not only has the building had a top to toe makeover the council has also recently purchased the building, saving money on future rental outgoings.

The council now receives an additional income of £135,000 p.a. from renting out parts of the town hall and Muriel Matters House. In addition, the council is making a net saving of £75,000 p.a. from purchasing the building rather than paying rent. The total of £210,000 p.a. will help to meet the massive funding reductions the council is experiencing and assist in protecting the services it delivers.

To mark the fresh start the council have renamed the building Muriel Matters House.

Calls for 2017 to be the ‘Year of the Village Green’

The Open Spaces Society, Britain’s oldest national conservation body, has called on local authorities and developers throughout England to make 2017 the Year of the Village Green, by voluntary registering their land as greens.

The society urges developers to include registered village greens within their sites so that local people have a guaranteed green space for recreation which is preserved for ever. It also urges local authorities to register their own land so that even if it is sold, it is protected.

Kate Ashbrook, the society’s general secretary, said: “The registration process is simple; the only requirements are to provide proof of ownership, obtain the consent of any leaseholder or chargeholder, complete a form and send it to the commons registration authority (county or unitary council).

“Once the land is registered as a town or village green, it is protected by nineteenth-century laws from development or encroachment, and local people have rights of informal recreation there. “So if a planning authority considers that a developer should offer a mitigating benefit to the neighbourhood, it can insist that the developer registers part of its site as a village green.

Read more at: http://www.hastingsobserver.co.uk/news/calls-for-2017-to-be-the-year-of-the-village-green-1-7754338

Thomas Brandon and Celia Brett - Friends of Hastings Cemetery

Someone has pointed out that Thomas Brandon Brett was born one hundred years ago this year, so this is to pay tribute to him.

EE M34 - Thomas Brandon and Celia Brett

In Remembrance of

Celia

66 years devoted wife of

T B Brett

Born May 23rd 1821

Died October 19th 1900

__________

Also of Thomas Brandon Brett

Husband of the above named Celia Brett

For many years proprietor

Of the St Leonards and Hastings

Gazette and writer of

Local History

Born May 30th 1816

Died April 4th 1906

__________

"Honour thy Father and thy Mother

That thy days may be long in the land

that the Lord, thy God giveth thee"

Cemetery Update

New Stories:

• The Blomfield Family - missionaries in Jamaica, the sons were famous Hastings Photographers; buried in three separate plots (one lost to grass).

View from the FoHC/OHPS bench

Recent Stories

• Dibley, Johnathon & Emma & William Dengate - local contractor, his daughter and son-in-law
• Furley, William Deey very little known
• Phillips, Charles Henry Leigh died aged 8, his father was Charles, but which of the 45 - 50 Charles Phillips in Hastings at the time?
• Phillips, Frederick Charles - fisherman, drowned

Fishermen's Tonight - Hope you see this before this evening!

Last minute Stocking Present?

Winkle Club Calendar £4.50
with historic photos to bring back memories
and identify family members

Available from the History House, 21 Courthouse Street, and other locatons

No more Hastings planning application notification letters

Hastings residents will no longer be sent notification letters to alert them to planning applications in their area as the council tries to save time and money.

Hastings Borough Council is not sending out the letters anymore as part of its move to provide more services digitally and online.  Information about planning applications can be found on the council’s new ‘customer-friendly and more interactive’ website which was launched in the summer.

“Eye catching yellow site notices will be placed in the near neighbourhood

You can sign up for a MyHastings account on the council’s self-service system; you will see a list of all open planning applications in your postcode area.”

Information about planning applications can be found online and the 21 day period within which people have to comment on applications will stay the same. Yellow site notices will be erected for the majority of planning applications to notify neighbours about applications close to them.

Residents can also look up planning applications in their area on the council’s website: www.hastings.gov.uk/planning. “These changes have arisen from a wider review of council procedures with a view to making efficiencies, meeting our statutory duties and moving to a ‘digital by design’ approach where possible,” Cllr Forward said.
Read more at: http://www.hastingsobserver.co.uk/news/no-more-hastings-planning-application-notification-letters-1-7734136

Rare chance to see Andrew Kotting’s Edith film Edith

One of the few showings of Andrew Kotting’s Brilliant new film Edith is takes place on the film-maker’s home turf of St Leonards on Wednesday December 14.

The hour long film is being shown at the Kino Teatr, Norman Road at 7.30pm and features an introduction, Q&A and a mini performance.

The statue in St Leonards of the fallen King Harold in the arms of his mistress Edith Swan-Neck became the inspiration for an epic walk by Hastings based film-maker Andrew Kotting and writer Iain Sinclair.

Edith is remembered in history and folklore chiefly because it was she [allegedly] who identified Harold’s body after the Battle of Hastings.

During the walk Edith was represented by local singer Claudia Barton. Drummer David Aylward and musician and former Pogues member Jem Finer also made the journey. The 108 mile journey, from Waltham Abbey to St Leonards as the crow flies, reflects on Edith and features a conversation between Alan Moore, Iain Sinclair and Edith Swan Neck.

Tickets are £9, £8 and £7 available from Kino online at www.kino-teatr.co.uk.
Read more at: http://www.hastingsobserver.co.uk/news/rare-chance-to-see-andrew-kotting-s-edith-film-1-7716552

OHPS–Seasonal Celebration–3rd December 2016

at The History House, 21 Courthouse Street

“My Hastings” with Kevin Boorman

Tickets:
Members £5
Non members - £6

5.30 pm – Mulled wine and mince pies

Hastings Old Town named 'Best Neighbourhood' in national awards - 2016

The Old Town of Hastings has been crowned best neighbourhood in the UK and Ireland at the 2016 Urbanism Awards Ceremony.

The award is one of five given out annually by built-environment network The Academy of Urbanism to recognise the best, most enduring or most improved urban environments.

It's voted on by its members, who include leading architects, planners and developers.

The Jerwood gallery was highlighted for praise Credit: Jerwood Gallery

Judges were particularly impressed with the way in which it has kept much of its historic fabric and layout intact, yet managed to embrace contemporary additions that creatively respond to the townscape.

Shepherds Cottage, Fairlight Place, Barley Lane

Demolition of existing building and erection of new dwelling with facade retention

http://publicaccess.hastings.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=_HSTBC_DCAPR_102432

Andrew Blackman, Chairman of the Friends of Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve on behalf of the committee. writes:
We object to the proposed development. Attempting to add a two storey extension to an existing single storey building is rarely a recipe for success and, in the present case, the result is a deeply unsatisfactory. The site is a prominent one within a particularly sensitive part of the High Weald AONB so the design of any proposed building here is of the greatest importance. The current design is unacceptable. The Friends would not object to a significant single storey extension in keeping with the look and feel of the existing cottage.

Book Sale – good quality secondhand books raising funds for Hastings History House

Friday 18th - Sunday 20th November - 11-4pm

 

UNCANNY LANDSCAPES

NOVEMBER 9 @ 7:00 PM | FREE

University of Brighton, Hastings, Priory Square
Hastings, TN34 1EA United Kingdom + Google Map

ADULTS

Gareth E Rees is an author, psychogeographer, spoken word performer and editor of UnofficialBritain.com, a website that takes a skewed look at our lesser-explored landscapes.

His debut book ‘Marshland’ was a time travelling adventure in London’s urban wilderness while his latest work explores his home town of Hastings, where he finds unexpected magic in its memorial benches, supermarket car parks and concrete walls.

With musical support from James Wvr (The Warrior Squares).

PLEASE NOTE THIS EVENT IS IN THE LECTURE THEATRE AT THE HAVELOCK ROAD SITE.

TALKING POSTS BY SHARED SPACE AND LIGHT -

NOVEMBER 7 @ 5:00 PM - NOVEMBER 13 @ 10:00 PM | FREE

near Debenhams, Robertson St
Hastings, TN34 1HN United Kingdom + Google Map

ADULTS FAMILY UNDER 10S

Talking Posts offers a novel twist on the ancient tradition of stories shared around the campfire.  Two ornate Victorian street lamps flicker in the dark and eerie projections emerge. Perfectly contained within their glass enclosures, licked by gas flames, disembodied, life-sized talking heads relate accounts of supernatural activities in Hastings.

Talking Posts is the brainchild of Brighton-based company Shared Space and Light, creators of unforgettable collective experiences using a combination of moving image, sound and light.  Stories are told by local actors.*

5pm-10pm every evening from Monday 7 November to Sunday 13 November.

This event is free and suitable for all ages.