Kiosk obstructs seafront view
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The new kiosk on the Seafront (above Bottle Alley, on the St Leonards side of the pier) is horrible already: fat and ugly and obstructing the old weather station that has graced the site for many years.
Hastings Borough Council blocking sea views in this way adds to their poor reputation.
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Hide AdWhen the ‘Concrete King’ Sidney Little designed the prom in the 1930s, he left the top uncluttered for a reason. The council planners have since added various buildings along the seafront, with unimpressive results.
A prizewinning design for this kiosk (Observer, p14, March 10), however good, cannot make up for the damage to the town’s central attraction, the seafront, with its traditionally unrestricted sea views.
As well as damaging the openness of the area, the kiosk will take business from the pier, add to litter and smell, cause extra bins, and endanger prams, pedestrians, runners, pets and cyclists (including the ice cream rickshaw) who will officially share the space.
The old weather station and nearby Grade 2 shelters are damaged.
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Hide AdDespite HBC’s statement that the kiosk ‘will not result in substantial harm to the character or appearance of these historic assets’, it obstructs them and belittles them, and there is substantial harm done.
The cost of this development is stated as £79,000 (HBC Cabinet meeting of April 2016, item 62). Doesn’t HBC have better things to do with £79k?
Such as keep public toilets open?
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