Castle Ward is at the heart of Hastings' regeneration. While the most obvious regeneration is in terms of building work in the town centre, there is also an important job to do in improving our housing stock, reducing crime, upgrading the environment and equipping local people with the skills to take advantage of the new opportunities.
Recent welcome Government support has come in the form of a £2 million grant for 2008/9 to help tackle 'worklessness' and get young people and unemployed adults into employment. Further funds will follow.
In the past few years we have seen a number of Government projects come to fruitition, such as the new station, the Creative Media Centre and the University Centre Hastings (UCH).
About to launch is the new Lacuna Place development, which will provide good quality accommodation to attract local businesses into the Town Centre. This will not only raise the number of opportunities people have in terms of employment, it will also help make our retail centre more sustainable, as people spend their wages there instead of some other town!
Coming soon is the new Hastings College, and a fanastic new Primary Care centre at Station Plaza.