Observer article for September
After the news this week of Owens shutting its doors for who knows how long due to health and safety concerns, and the fact that the council is seemingly locked in to a commitment to build a hotel for a huge international chain, whether it covers its long term costs or not, plus a town centre that looks sad and unloved, it’s really time to re think how we approach regeneration.
We are a town of small independent businesses and creative innovative people and yet many of them feel locked out of the conversations going on around the regeneration money coming into the town such as the Town Deal funding. We know that focussing funding down to neighbourhood level works but there have been many failed promises over the years from the Millennium Communities Funding for Ore to the buildings left from the failed university project, some re-purposed but others still empty.
Hastings council is in financial straits and struggling with officer capacity so now it’s even more important than ever to find ways of working together. We should be asking all our key local players ‘what do you need in order to play your part in local regeneration?’ How about convening one big regeneration meeting every quarter, identifying the movers and shakers from different sectors in the town. They could spread the invite within their networks and ensure each meeting ends with a to do list. It could move around the town so all neighbourhoods were involved and energised.
Let’s look at recent successes in the town. After years of neglect by multiple owners, the Observer Building is coming back to life as part of the Hastings Commons, along with other buildings in the Trinity Triangle. Bottle Alley art market was a huge success. It follows local businesses like Starsky and Hatch taking a punt by opening a café there when everyone saw the space as more of a blight than an asset. On Queens Road we have St Andrews Mews being transformed and further up is the Yard, full of a huge range of small businesses from sign writing to carpentry via plants and graphic designers. These home-grown models could be replicated on other sites in Hastings, particularly focussed on artist and makers studios for which there is huge demand and a shortage of available space. Even in Owens there are independent small businesses running successful concessions that should be supported.
There are over one hundred manufacturing businesses in Hastings including a large group of scientific vacuum companies, metal workers, signage companies like Link Signs, people brewing beer, making campervans, a huge flight-case making company etc. Many of these have opportunities to offer apprenticeships and training. And we have a college desperate for work experience for their students.
Let’s bring all these key players together for a locally grown renaissance for Hastings.