The arrival of Covid-19 has worsened the chronic problems of homelessness and rough sleeping which already afflicted Hastings. HOT’s Nick Terdre talked to Cllr Andy Batsford, Hastings Borough Council’s lead for housing and homelessness, about how the situation has been tackled since the virus turned our lives upside down, and the worrying prospects now looming up.
The government has finally accepted that if test and trace is to work properly, local expertise and resources need to be incorporated alongside the centralised system, though there is as yet no indication that local authorities will be given extra funding to do local contact tracing. Separately the Department of Health and Social Care is said to be planning a merger of NHS Test and Trace with the pandemic response work of Public Health England. Research and graphics by Russell Hall, text by Nick Terdre.
Last week saw the annual Hiroshima Day commemoration in Hastings. First held by Hastings Against War (HAW) in 2005, Hiroshima Day has been staged here annually since 2007. John Enefer reports.
On Common Ground is a collection of essays about community land trusts (CLTs). Its many voices range from academics to professional organisers and community activists. Together, they tell stories which explain what CLTs are, how they work and why they matter. Shelley Feldman, herself a member and employee of the Heart of Hastings CLT, found the book a fascinating and inspiring read.
HOT’s Erica Smith visited Rye Harbour to investigate what has been making the villagers lose sleep at night.
While Hastings Borough Council and its partners review options for an alternative site for the mobile testing unit, the original choice of the Stade open space appears to run counter to one of the key criteria. Nick Terdre reports.
The government has announced an ambitious plan for encouraging cycling and walking which could be truly transformative if the rhetoric translates into reality. Nick Terdre reports. Photos by Russell Jacobs.
Despite the deficiencies in data provision shown up by the Leicester outbreak, and government promises to remedy the situation, reports are still indicating that the NHS Test & Trace system is not working as well as it needs to on the ground. Research and graphics by Russell Hall, text by Nick Terdre.
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