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Poster for Freedom for All Passover Seder

Hastings Jewish group invites town to share Passover meal

Hastings Jews for Justice will be marking Passover this year with a community ‘seder’ meal and everyone is invited. Gabriel Carlyle reports.

Hastings Jews for Justice is hosting a ‘Freedom for all’ vegan Passover meal on Wednesday 16 April at Stade Hall from 6pm, inviting community members to share this special evening.

Hastings Jews for Justice organiser Shelley Feldman explained: “The Passover meal is an important cultural event in the Jewish calendar.

“It is an ancient festival marking the exodus of enslaved Jewish peoples from Egypt. Over the years Jewish diaspora communities across the world have adapted and interpreted the ‘Seder’ to create their own local traditions. Continue reading…

ESCC elections: what might have been

Opposition parties were dismayed when the East Sussex County Council elections scheduled for May were cancelled, having held high hopes of removing the Conservatives from power. A poll now suggests that the Tories were indeed heading for a disastrous result, but with Reform UK also set to benefit. Text by Nick Terdre, research and graphics by Russell Hall.

Mother’s Day gifts and pest control on the agenda at Alexandra Park greenhouse

The community hub at Alexandra Park greenhouse will imminently be hosting two events, a chance to make a Mother’s Day gift and a talk on combating garden pests. Lynda Foy gives details.

Neurodiversity Film Festival 2025 at Electric Palace cinema

The first ever Hastings Neurodiversity Film Festival taking place at the Electric Palace cinema and other local venues from 28 to 30 March, is a celebration of autism and neurodiversity on screen, making visible the characters and stories that are often invisible in contemporary mainstream cinema, says Annie Waite.

Are Sussex Police good value for money?

I spent the morning of Friday 14 March at the Police and Crime Panel meeting in Lewes. I had asked Katy Bourne, OBE, the Police and Crime Commissioner, a question and was keen to see if there would be a follow-up response. Dee Williams reports.

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Youth, change, and flashbacks: former Hastings resident publishes memoir

Former Hastings resident Barry Harden has published a memoir of his childhood days growing up in London as the country slowly recovered from the deprivations of the Second World War before being transformed by the cultural revolutiom of the 1960s, as Isabel Lopez describes.

Virtual Reality (VR) is a new world

Artists Eden and Andrew Kötting have a new film, The Tell-Tale Rooms, showing for free in the basement of the OB (Observer building) until Tuesday 18 March. The experience is immersive, like being Alice, unexpectedly in Wonderland. Bernard McGinley reports.

Mayoral poll heads shift in electoral landscape

The government’s devolution policy has changed the electoral landscape, replacing this year’s county council elections in six areas, including East Sussex, with a poll for mayors. Elections for shadow unitary authorities are also scheduled as local government undergoes a radical upheaval. How are these new elections shaping up in Sussex? Text by Nick Terdre, research and graphics by Russell Hall.

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Do you support Active Travel in Hastings? Come to the public meeting on Tuesday 18th

Local campaign groups have called a public meeting to explore how we can make Hastings a safer, easier town for walking, wheeling and cycling with a greener transport network. Nick Terdre reports.

Jerry Bergonzi Quartet to play Jazz Hastings Tuesday 18 March

For the fourth time in as many years, jazz giant Jerry Bergonzi will be taking to the stage for Jazz Hastings March session. He will be playing on Tuesday 18 March at the East Hastings Sea Angling Association on the Stade. Julian Norridge reports.

Council officers recommend more flats for the Archery Ground and cutting compensation

Planning officers of Hastings Borough Council (HBC) have recommended that the Council accepts the application to squeeze five more flats onto the Archery Ground site. They also propose to let over £53,000 compensation go unclaimed without explaining why. The legal argument is badly out of date. Consideration of disabled rights has been suppressed as well as ignored. The application will be decided by the planning committee on Wednesday 12 March. Bernard McGinley reports.

Labour relaunches Tory fund for deprived communities as Plan for Neighbourhoods

The Labour government this week announced the Plan for Neighbourhoods, a £1.5bn fund to be dispensed to 75 deprived towns and communities, including Hastings, Rother and Eastbourne. The money is not new – this is the previous government’s Long Term Plan for Towns under a new name. Nick Terdre reports, research and graphics by Russell Hall.

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Two local authors launch new work on World Book Day

Hastings is blessed with a plethora of local talent so why not ‘shop local’ on World Book Day and treat yourself to a fiction set on the beach of Bulverhythe or the streets of Hastings Old Town? Dee Williams reviews.

HBC “shocked” at ESCC cuts to supported housing

Hastings Borough Council declared itself shocked and disappointed at the savage cuts which East Sussex County Council has made to its financial backing for supported housing services, some of which face closure. Nick Terdre reports.

SONICS 25

Sunday Sonics is 10 years old this March. The lineup includes much new talent and some returning performers. As a prelude to the Hastings Fat Tuesday Festival, Sonics gets the ball rolling with a mind expanding cocktail of sound and vision. Nick Weekes has the information.

“Spring” completion for Queensway Gateway junction

Work continues on joining the Queensway Gateway Road to the A21 while vehicles travelling the main road where the junction is being constructed close to The Ridge continue to be inconvenienced. East Sussex Highways can give no more definite date for the completion of the project than “spring.” Nick Terdre provides an update.

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