We rise from our beds and raise raised beds.

23rd June 2016

On the last weekend before the summer solstice we took delivery of a few tons of sleepers and began building raised beds. A more technically tricky task than most expected, we made steady progress realising Julie’s plans, making some changes as we went along. Many thanks to all involved, especially those who came both days to ensure that we made a great start to the central element of the community garden.

We will now be meeting every week, alternating between Saturdays (1.00pm – 4pm) and Sundays (10am – 1pm), the next being Sat 25th June.

Many thanks to Littlewood Fencing for supplying the wood.

Bohemia Walled Garden Summer Garden Party

16th June 2016

Bohemia Walled Garden is having a Summer Garden Party on Sunday 3rd July, 10am-4pm.

ADMISSION FREE! Includes music, tea and cakes, tombolas, plant sale and children’s activities.

It’s a beautiful community garden/allotment hidden inside Summerfields Wood.
The association recently had success with a Heritage Lottery Application. Read details of the project plan on Heritage Lottery Fund page

Can anyone smell garlic?

12th June 2016

Down at the community garden we’ve uncovered a wealth of plants with culinary and medicinal uses.

Here’s Naomi, a garden volunteer, trying out the Rosy Garlic. The bulbils are like miniature Red Onions and are wrapped in a thin papery skin that peels away. It’s not uncommon to find it growing in the wild on the south coast, in rough or cultivated ground.

Our volunteers have taken some home to put in a vase or have a try at cooking with it.

We’re compiling a page of all the wild plants we’ve discovered so far and what you might do with them.

Disappointment at a year’s delay to bus improvements

9th June 2016

Bus lanes on the A259 between Glyne Gap and Bexhill Road will now not be completed until a year after the opening of the Bexhill to Hastings Link Road (BHLR), Campaign for Better Transport – East Sussex has learned.

Speaking for the group, Derrick Coffee said:

‘Originally intended to begin construction in February, East Sussex County Council (ESCC) has revealed that the start date for construction will now be next October. This is bad news for the two towns as delay is likely to lead to:

lower take-up of the bus as a more sustainable means to travel
traffic beginning to grow back on Bexhill Road – taking advantage of the lower traffic levels
deterioration of air quality
higher climate change gas emissions
greater unhealthy ‘car dependency’
delayed advantages for cyclists who would gain by using the bus lanes

The bus lanes, with better bus services, were promised in 2004 and were a condition of the Department for Transport (DfT) funding approval in 2012. That approval – surprising in the light of the DfT giving the BHLR a ‘poor to medium’ value for money rating – looks pretty disappointing now as the ability of an improved bus service to ‘lock in’ any traffic reduction benefits will be prevented: the bus lanes were a key part of that plan and, as the traffic grows back, their delayed operation makes the BHLR look even poorer value for the vast sum of taxpayers’ money spent so far. That’s around £130m.

‘The removal two years ago from transport plans of the long proposed new railway station at Glyne Gap by Rother District and ESCC is a further incentive to ‘carry on driving’ and a blow to any vision of a good mix of high quality sustainable transport for the residents, workers, tourists, young people and students of Hastings. The inevitable increase in traffic is also bad news for those for whom a vehicle is essential’, concluded Derrick Coffee.

Potential community use for the Old Town Hall

1st June 2016

A group of residents are asking the council if they can turn the currently vacant Old Town Hall on the High Street into an arts based community hub. The likelihood is that the local council will give it to the group at a peppercorn rent until they are up and running (if they can prove its needed).

If you are interested in using the space for exhibitions, selling crafts etc, renting workspaces or running workshops, get in touch via the website.

The hub will be not for profit and any rents/profit share will be at a rate affordable to all. They plan to run a couple of craft retro fairs to get some initial funds at the beginning of July this year.
At a later stage they want to pay a manager to run the building. The hope is it will be open 7 days a week all day and evening.

You can attend weekly meetings about the hub at 6.30pm on Mondays at Old History House, 21 Courthouse Street.