Do local authorities choose not to see the value of coaches?

Hastings has been an interesting town as regards coach parking. To give you an overview so you can form an idea, let me tell you the true story.

Traditionally, for decades, our coach park was on the beach in the heart of the old town, the perfect spot for coaches to be positioned once their groups had stepped off — and great for local trade.

One day, Hastings Borough Council was approached by the independent grant-making Jerwood Foundation, as the latter wanted a coastal base to open a new gallery in the town.

The council was tripping over itself that we had to have the gallery here at all costs, and at our expense. The Jerwood Foundation was shown a range of different (and suitable) local sites to build a gallery, but alas, it was the coach park it insisted upon, and got.

I managed to get involved to at least force the issue that the visiting coaches had to go somewhere else to drop off and park (the leader of the council at the time actually said he wasn’t interested in coaches, as all the people would flock to the Jerwood Gallery once Hastings had opened it) so alternative parking was made on Falaise Road, much further along the seafront, which is up a steep hill off the seafront itself, with car parking bays removed to accommodate it. There are not many places to provide parking in the town.

The new route diversions for coaches dropping off when coming into Hastings became a nightmare. I warned the council that a new roundabout needed to be created to allow coaches to turn around, and this was ignored.

A new route which included a low-height railway bridge, and which went all over the back of the town on small local roads after coaches had dropped passengers off at the seafront, allowed councillors to feel they had done a good job.

However, our coach trade quickly disappeared when companies were tipped off by their drivers of the changes. Meanwhile, the Jerwood Gallery became a flop, with very low footfall. It limped on until the Jerwood Foundation pulled out, leaving the council to try and re-brand the building as the fully independent Hastings Contemporary, though I’m not sure if anyone even goes there now, or if it’s even open. Its design is the usual bland looking ‘architects’ box’ building, not in keeping with the historic old town buildings.

COVID-19 happened in the middle of this all taking place, so the council has had the perfect excuse if it was ever questioned on why coach footfall had been lost.

In the main, the only coaches I see visit Hastings now are European ones, mostly from Germany. They park on Falaise Road overnight between Easter and October, but leave town in the daytime with groups of teenage students for places like London, Canterbury, and Brighton.

We do still have an on-road coach park in Falaise Road for the time being, but only as the council is now looking to go effectively bust — so it hasn’t the time to dream up the idea to close the bays and put it back to car parking, which no doubt would be accompanied by the excuse that there are no day tripper coaches coming anymore.

Stephen Dine

Empress Coaches

Hastings