Hastings stadium plan: 'No viable scheme for the council to support'

Hastings Borough Council said councillors on its cabinet committee are set to discuss a report into Hastings United Football Club’s proposals to build the stadium and a housing development at the current Pilot Field ground.

But the authority has said that there is ‘no viable scheme for the council to support’.

A council spokesperson said: “The report was requested at Full Council in December 2022 and sets out the history of the discussions and negotiations between the football club and the council, which have been ongoing since 2017.

"The report outlines how certain conditions were set out by the council that the club needed to achieve before a further report could be brought back to Cabinet or Full Council to confirm the sale of council land to allow the scheme to go ahead.

"The conditions included, among others, consulting with the local community, providing a business case showing that the sale of the land would generate sufficient funds to develop and sustain a new football stadium and signing a draft Heads of Terms document which included an £8m bond to safeguard the interests of council taxpayers in the proposed scheme. None of these have been met to the council’s satisfaction.

"The report concludes that there is no viable scheme for the council to support.”

In the report by Jane Hartnell, the council’s chief executive, the report said: “The council remains committed to supporting HUFC to secure improvements to the facilities and grounds at Pilot Field and to ensuring that they meet the repair and maintenance terms of the lease of the site to them.”

Last month before he resigned as Hastings United’s chairman and chief executive, Billy Wood, posted an open letter to the council’s chief executive calling for the issue over the proposals for the new stadium to be resolved ‘without further delay’.

Last December, a petition was launched, urging the council to reconsider its refusal to sell Tilekiln playing fields for a new proposed Hastings Unitedfootball stadium.

The proposed development by Hastings United FC was approved in June 2022 by the authority, despite it stating three months earlier it was not intending to sell land needed for the scheme to go ahead.

The council also approved an outline application to build up to 86 homes at The Pilot Field, Hastings United’s current grounds, which was built in 1920. The council agreed in 2018 to look at the plans in detail to ensure they met certain criteria before a sale could be agreed.

In March 2022, when the council announced its decision not to sell Tilekiln playing fields, a spokesperson said the club had submitted planning applications for both Tilekiln and a housing scheme at The Pilot Field in 2020, even though there were ‘outstanding issues’ to be agreed before the council could commit to the sale of Tilekiln.

The council added since discussions began it had declared a Climate Emergency and had to rethink its priorities after Covid.

The spokesperson added: “As a result, it has been decided that protecting our green spaces for open and free community access is vital, and that the needs of the community in Hollington who currently use the fields year round for recreation, dog walking and sports is paramount. The existing ground isowned by Hastings Borough Council, and the council is keen to demonstrate support for the club by seeking external funding to improve facilities there.”