Series: Town on the Edge

Merlin Betts

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You might be excused for thinking that Hastings is doing well. People are flocking over and down to experience the charms of this unique, creative and historical seaside borough – a stretch of coastline that represents what Britain has been and is trying to be. But then you stop for a second and look around you. Details flash before your terrified eyes: the lack of housing, the floods, the healthcare crisis, rising cost of living, crime rates, and the general urban deprivation of an underfunded and largely ignored segment of the South East.

Our latest (preliminary) council budget is a response to this mixed reality, and about as gloomy as you might expect. Although, when you hear the councillors talk, especially the leadership, there is an excited undercurrent of aspiration, maybe even hope, in a surprising number of their words.

When I wandered out to the Stade Hall on a cool winter’s evening last year, I was expecting a bit of activity. Not huge throngs of folk, but some people. A bit like when Southern Water did a day there to pretend that performing below average was an impressive achievement. I made it for the last hour or two of the council’s open budget consultation in the Hall, and it was looking sparse. People had been in all day, so I was told, but I was the first one who actually wanted to talk about the budget. I ended up speculating and chatting some shop with Cllrs Maya Evans and Simon Willis, treading very lightly on the topic of this grim but necessary survival finance for a struggling council.

There’s worry because a very real risk is looming: a section 114 notice, which is a local authority’s version of bankruptcy. With that you can say goodbye to any community involvement and any other politics – it goes into administration and the last flecks of meat are chiselled from the bone.

Find out more in five parts and a strange interlude.

Bordering bankruptcy: how did we get here? A brief but far-reaching exploration of recent history.
A swashbuckling tale of medieval valour. Old rumblings about our ruin.
What’s a council in crisis to do? The main budgetary drain, explained.
The big debate that wasn’t. Rough minutes from a council meeting.
Sound the clarion, call the volunteers. Can we solve the crisis by getting together?
Unitary power. Can we solve the crisis by seizing power?

Head to part one: Bordering bankruptcy: how did we get here?