Hastings Green Party calls for harbour development to be rejected

Julia Hilton (front left), Amelia Womack (front centre) and Nigel Sinden (front right) at the petition hand-in. Picture: Hastings and Rye Green Party

The petition – calling on Hastings Borough Council to reject the plans – was given to Hastings mayor Nigel Sinden at Rock-a-Nore, where the proposed harbour would be built.

The harbour plans, put forward last autumn by the Hastings Harbour Quarter company, would include a huge marina complex and hundreds of new homes on a platform in the sea at Rock-a-Nore.

The Green Party’s petition calls on Hastings Borough Council to cease co-operation with Hastings Harbour Quarter and says: “We believe this project would do irrevocable harm to some of the most precious assets of Hastings. It would destroy the character of one of the best loved parts of our town. The site is completely inappropriate for such a massive development and the housing would almost certainly be unaffordable to local people.”

Green Party deputy leader Amelia Womack was in attendance to show her support for the campaign against the development.

Julia Hilton, Hastings Green Party spokesman, said: “We in Hastings Green Party know from conversations locally that the harbour proposal is massively unpopular, and we are proud to have taken the lead in opposing it.

“We will continue to oppose it, and to be a voice for the community, calling for transparency around all major planning decisions and proper engagement with the people of Hastings about how we create a vision for this town.

“We need to find ways to bring ideas and solutions to the problems of this town from the bottom up, listening to this community, not top down from secretive developers working behind closed doors.”

Leader of Hastings Borough Council Peter Chowney previously said the development would have ‘significant benefits for the town’.