Shared Heritage
Action Plan
for Everyone
Alexandra Park, credit_ eat@hastings
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What matters from the past that you want to save or celebrate?

WE'VE LISTENED – AND WE'RE INSPIRED!

Building on nearly two decades of sustained community engagement, in 2025 we've loved listening to people in Hastings and St Leonards sharing stories and memories, focusing on what makes our town special and what people want to preserve for the future.

This work became known as the Shared Heritage Action Plan for Everyone (SHAPE).

Our listening approach aimed to:

  • Reach out widely to local people, targeting those who are seldom heard in conversations about the past and the future of their town
  • Collaboratively develop plans to tackle heritage challenges by spreading leadership, connecting local allies and decision makers
  • Increase and diversify local people’s influence on decisions and delivery
  • Build the capacity of local groups, individually and together in the Heritage Forum

The SHAPE project grew from our close relationship with Historic England, particularly through the delivery of the Trinity Triangle Heritage Action Zone (TTHAZ ) from 2020-24.

Guided by our core principles - commoning, building local agency and power, building on what is already here, seeking equity and inclusion, adapting as we go, thinking long term - we approach heritage as an integral part of wider neighbourhood regeneration and placemaking. SHAPE extended the focus of the TTHAZ programme beyond the Trinity Triangle area to central and seafront Hastings & St Leonards (from Rock A Nore to West St Leonards). The Heritage Forum has now decided to cover the whole area of Hastings & St Leonards.

The Treasures you've revealed:

  • 194 precious buildings or spaces that are a crucial part of the identity of the people of Hastings
  • 32 locally organised festivals and events that define who we are as Hastings and St Leonards
  • An initial 24 people who matter - many more to come

At its heart, SHAPE is about opening up conversations about heritage in Hastings beyond the usual circles in three main activities: listening events, listening bases, and the Heritage Forum.

1. Establishing a Heritage Forum to connect and support those who are already engaged in looking after and promoting local heritage. The forum continues to meet voluntarily and is keen to welcome new members – please email if you are a local person already involved or keen to connect and collaborate with others who are actively engaged in protecting heritage assets and cultural activities.

2. Listening to the public in Hastings & St Leonards - Asking: “What matters to you from the past that you want to save and celebrate?”

Over 1,000 voices joined the conversation so far, including 179 young people, and the "Legends" - local people over 70 who attended a special dedicated event at Holy Trinity Hastings.

3. We created opportunities for connection through 11 listening events and 9 welcoming listening bases placed across Hastings and St Leonards. We were determined to meet people where they are so that we could try to hear from people who might not usually be heard. Among our engagement materials was this beautiful photobook kindly created for us by James at Judges.

Local Voices Are Driving The Action

We hosted two "playback" events where we shared what we’d heard with heritage champions and decision-makers, to find connections and common ground.

The next step is to turn the heritage asset list into an interactive Treasure Trove and to create mini action plans for those assets (physical and festival) that are shared priorities. The Heritage Forum worked out 12 criteria to help decide what needs an action plan:

  • Urgency of Threat or Decline
  • Historical, Cultural, or Social Significance
  • Community Value and Support
  • Visibility and Impact
  • Potential for Wider Ripple Effects
  • Contribution to Livelihoods and Local Economy
  • Readiness and Feasibility
  • Alignment with Policy, Powers, and Strategic Opportunities
  • Accessibility and Inclusion Potential
  • Educational and Youth Inspiration Value
  • Impact on Character and Coherence of Place
  • Timeliness and Strategic Momentum

The mini action plans will be practical roadmaps to protect and support what matters to local people. They will suggest concrete next steps and spotlight what needs immediate attention and by whom. This approach seeks to ensure that all the community wisdom we’ve collected through SHAPE becomes embedded in official heritage strategies

Stay Connected – The Adventure Continues!

It’s been a long time coming, this idea of distributed leadership to look after what matters. But it’s here! Neither Hastings Borough Council nor East Sussex County Council will exist after 2028 and both will be consumed with that issue for the next couple of years. It is even more important than ever that community groups and local people step up to look after what matters, and that we work together to embed that into whatever new local government looks like.

We’re still listening and want to know what you care about in Hastings and St Leonards!

Keep your eyes on this space for updates or join the community newsletter below if you’d like to stay in touch and be kept up to date with the SHAPE project.

Here are links if you’d like to see a copy of our data protection policy or privacy policy.

  • HSHAZ was a national initiative led by Historic England which aimed to revitalise historic high streets that were suffering from high rates of dereliction, by restoring historic buildings, promoting cultural activities, and encouraging economic growth and community relationship building.

    Hastings was one of only two HSHAZ schemes nationally that were not led by a local authority, but instead driven by a community organisation embedded in the neighbourhood. Our work has directly influenced Historic England’s increasing policy emphasis on working with communities, empowering those who live, work, and create in these neighbourhoods.

    When Historic England Commissioners visited Hastings Commons in March 2023, they were impressed by the ambition and impact of the TTHAZ and asked what was needed next. The answer was resources to sustain and develop Hastings Commons’ role as a Heritage Development Trust, both to continue to tackle dereliction in White Rock and to support others elsewhere in the town to do the same.

    Visit this page for more information recording the projects

    Or this page for more detailed evaluative overview