Economic Prosperity

REVIVING and sustaining a healthy daytime and evening economy, especially in the town centres of Hastings & St Leonards, is a crucial aspect of regeneration and raising the profile of the town as a great place to live, work and visit.

Recognising this, the Safer Hastings Partnership is involved with a number of initiatives that are directly aimed at making the town safer, and thereby enabling economic prosperity.

Bar Watch

ONE OF the most successful of these initiatives is Bar Watch, run by Town Centre Management and funded, in part, by the SHP.

Bar Watch has a significant impact on our evening economy, making the Hastings & St Leonards town centres safer places to enjoy a drink and socialise. Every pub, bar and club in the two centres is a member of Bar Watch, meaning they are linked via a radio system and monthly meetings, enabling them to exchange information about safety and known troublemakers. Bar Watch works under the simple principle: ‘Barred from one, barred from all’ – when police arrest a member of the public who has committed an offence on or around the premises of a member of Bar Watch, they are barred from all of the scheme’s premises – effectively banning them from all of the pubs, bars and clubs in the town centre areas.

Each week, every Bar Watch member receives photographs and details of those who have been barred. If a banned person tries to gain entry to members’ premises, the radio system enables landlords to notify other Bar Watch members immediately.

Most bans run for one year, though this depends on the nature of the incident causing the ban. Usually, more than 100 bans are issued each year.

For more information about Bar Watch, contact Stephen Hinton, the Hastings Area Business Crime Reduction Partnership Coordinator, on 01424 205518 or at stephen.hinton@1066enterprise.co.uk.

Sticker Scheme

ANOTHER initiative aimed at keeping people safe while they are enjoying a night out is the ‘Sticker Scheme’.

Piloted at the end of 2006, the SHP allocated funding to this Sussex Police initiative, which sees pub and bar staff warning revellers about the dangers of drink spiking and property theft using stickers.

When staff at licensed premises notice an unfinished drink has been left unattended, they place on the glass a red sticker reading, “This could have been spiked.” Likewise, if someone leaves their mobile phone, wallet or other valuables unattended, staff will mark it with a yellow sticker reading, “This could have been stolen.” The objective of the ‘Sticker Scheme’ is to encourage people to be more aware so that they can avoid becoming a victim of crime.

Night Buses IN THE run up to Christmas, during major local events and over the summer, the Safer Hastings Partnership runs a Night Bus Service in conjunction with Sussex Police and Stagecoach. During these busy periods, the buses help late night revellers to get home from Hastings town centre quickly and safely. They also minimise late night incidents of violent crime and damage. Costing just £1 per person, two buses run every half hour from midnight until 3.30am on Friday and Saturday nights. One travels eastbound; the other heads westbound. Two uniformed police officers travel on each bus.

Taxi Marshals

WITH THE same objective as the Night Bus Scheme, the Safer Hastings Partnership piloted a new Taxi Marshal initiative at the end of 2006.

With funding from the local Neighbourhood Renewal Team, marshals provided by a local security firm are on duty at the main town centre taxi rank on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 11pm until 3am.

They wear high-visibility vests marked ‘Taxi Marshal’ so that the public can spot them easily.

Shop Watch

THE LOCAL economy is boosted when the town centre is safe. Like Bar Watch, the Shop Watch scheme unites local businesses in the battle to bring crime down. Partly funded by the SHP and run by Town Centre Management, more than 100 local businesses located in the town centres of Hastings & St Leonards and in the Old Town are part of the Shop Watch scheme. This initiative enables police to issue exclusions to persistent shoplifters and other offenders, banning them from the premises of all of the scheme’s members. In a similar way to the Bar Watch initiative, all Shop Watch retailers can communicate directly with each other via a radio system.

Safer Socialising Award

HASTINGS became the first place outside of the pilot town to receive the Safer Socialising Award.

The award recognises the raft of measures in place and their success at creating an evening environment where residents can enjoy socialising safely.

As a recipient of this award, we can now allocate gold, silver and bronze status to pubs, bars, clubs, restaurants and even takeaways – any premises open in the evening. Similar to the star system that indicates the standard of a hotel, it is hoped the gold, silver and bronze standard will enable residents and visitors to choose where to spend their evening based on the quality and standards each level warrants.

Safe Student Zone THE SAFE Student Zone helps to reduce the fear of crime sometimes experienced by foreign students visiting Hastings. Throughout the summer, when we welcome more than 35,000 foreign students to the town, if they feel threatened in any way they can go into any shop bearing the Safer Student Zone logo for help. For more information about student safety in Hastings, click here.

Safer Business

HASTINGS & St Leonards town centres have been recognised by Action Against Business Crime, supported by the Home Office, as safe places to shop, visit and run businesses with the prestigious national Safer Business Award.

Safer Clubbing & Pubbing Scheme