Merlin Betts This article is part of a series. Find the previous article here, and overview here. I didn’t go to the full council meeting that approved the preliminary budget, but I did watch the video. It kicks off with a classic Paul Barnett speech, sounding like a Hastings Independent Group manifesto the very day…
Tag: budget
What’s a council in crisis to do?
Merlin Betts This article is part of a series. Find the previous article here, and overview here. Alright, so the biggest single problem for our budget is the local housing crisis and how blindingly expensive it is to run temporary accommodation. Why do so many people need temporary accommodation? Hastings Borough Council’s chief housing officer,…
Bordering bankruptcy: how did we get here?
Merlin Betts This article is part of a series. Find the previous article here, and overview here. Photo by Steve Payne on Unsplash. When he was trying to get picked (‘elected’ they like to say) as Tory leader, Rishi Sunak stood at a Tunbridge Wells garden party and said he planned to take funding away…
Series: Town on the Edge
Merlin Betts To try this in longread mode, head here. 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….