New video blog discusses the big decisions made in Hastings

Opening the Brown Envelope, with councillor Andy Batsford, Jim Welch and Kwame Oko Okojie, has so far discussed topics including the council’s budget, the climate emergency, and homelessness.

Each weekend, the trio sit down after a few beers, and talk about what is happening in Hastings.

Councillor Batsford said: “As I’m a local councilor they give me a hard time and I try and explain how we got that decision. So we decided to record a few of those chats with some special local guests to get a better understanding of everything from the climate emergency to homelessness, potholes to house building you name it we’re covering it in a easy open style.”

They have so far released two episodes which Kwame said have been well received.

He added: “The response has been really positive. These conversations go on all over Hastings in the pubs and we can get some facts from Batsford and a real insight from our guests. I personally have learnt loads. I didn’t know about how local politics works.”

You can watch the episodes by searching ‘Opening the Brown Envelope with Cllr Andy Batsford’ on YouTube.