An independent evaluation commissioned as part of the TTHAZ is now available here with a short cover note from Hastings Commons


Overview

High Street Heritage Action Zones (HAZs) are a £95 million government-funded initiative led by Historic England and designed to secure lasting improvements to historic high streets for the communities that use them. Of the 70 HAZs in the country, The Trinity Triangle HAZ (TTHAZ) is one of only two community-led HAZs nationally, with the other 68 schemes led by local authorities.

You can find more information about the award of the Heritage Action Zones from 2020 here, detailing how many schemes there were per region and the total funding awards.

Funds were not set aside specifically for any particular town or high street but places could apply against strict criteria and in competition with other bids. The bid for TTHAZ, written in 2019 for Heart of Hastings CLT (now Hastings Commons CLT), included 12 different elements – projects and ideas that had emerged over many years of local work and community engagement in the White Rock area. The approved funding allocation made by Historic England in response to the bid across those 12 elements (divided across five strands) was for a total of £2m, with £2m matched funding to be secured by Hastings Commons CLT from other sources.  In addition, Hastings Commons CLT was awarded a further £90,000 of funding from Historic England’s separate but connected Cultural Programme (£10,000 pilot and £80,000 grant) which we ran alongside and connected with existing plans as part of TTHAZ:

During the 4 years from April 2020, as TTHAZ proved its ability to deliver even while schemes elsewhere struggled due to delays relating to Covid, additional funds were allocated by Historic England, especially to the Observer Building because it had a clear funding gap and (since the contractors were already on site) the ability to spend within strictly imposed timeframes.

All HAZs including TTHAZ completed on 31 March 2024. However, that is not the end of the story but in many ways just the beginning. Below we provide an overview of how the funding was allocated and used across each of the five strands - buildings, stories, learning & digital, impact & legacy, and programme delivery.

An independent evaluation commissioned as part of the TTHAZ is also being finalised, and once available we will post the full evaluation here.

We held a celebration event on 20th March 2024 to mark the end of the Heritage Action Zone programme. It was a brilliant afternoon and evening with a variety of interactive activities, including (but in no way limited to): the nostalgic OB Memory Box, the energetic excerpt from the upcoming America Ground history musical and Emma Harding’s emotive Living Memories tile project.

We received some really positive comments from visitors of all ages about the event. FJ Parson’s great granddaughter said “it’s nice to see the [the OB] still alive” and a 19 year old who attended the event told us "this has made me think that History is for everyone”.

Relive the day with these wonderful photos by photographer Alice Denny


Buildings

Observer Building

Purpose as outlined in original bid

  • Provide critical early support to renovation of Observer Building as key local landmark and mixed-use building that will provide leisure and retail, workspace and housing at capped rents.
  • Provide key early funding to support renovation of 12 Claremont, a 5-storey historic building intended for mixed use including artist workspaces and gallery.
  • Provide support grants to secure improvements to other social spaces in the area.
  • Provide grants to owners of historic buildings to improve shop front and historic features of the public realm.

Overview of spend

The project spent £2,078,742 (securing £8,465,923 match) on buildings owned by Hastings Commons and local businesses. This breaks down as follows:
£1.626m on OB capital works (£7.515m match)
£42k on 12 Claremont capital works (£567k match)
£156k on Claremont alley capital works including cliff stabilisation (£276k match)
£60k on 7 Claremont capital works (£58k match)
£40k on Debenham’s building capital works (£25k match)
£24k on Leyla’s capital works (£5k match)
£18k on Trinity Townhouse capital works (£10k match)
£69k on support grants of which £35k on Holy Trinity Hastings, £22k His Place, £12k on Prospect Place retaining walls (£10k match)
£44k on specialist professional advisory support for the programme (no match)

Works to buildings owned by Hastings Commons

The original HAZ grant allocation to buildings included £700k for buildings owned by Hastings Commons. Of this £400k was allocated to the Observer Building (OB) owned by Hastings Commons Neighbourhood Ventures, and £300k to 12 Claremont which is on a 125-year peppercorn lease from East Sussex County Council to Hastings Commons CLT.

During the 4 years, as TTHAZ proved its ability to deliver even while schemes elsewhere struggled due to delays relating to Covid, additional funds were allocated by Historic England, especially to the OB because it had a clear funding gap and (since the contractors were already on site) the ability to spend within strict timeframes.

In total £1.668m was spent on buildings owned by Hastings Commons (excluding match), made up of the £700k that was part of the original bid, an additional £926k grant extension and transfer of £42k from underspends in other parts of the programme. Match funding of over £8.4m was secured against the original target of £700k for the OB and 12C. In addition, funding for the renovation of the roof and vaults of the Observer Building and full renovation of 12 Claremont have now been secured and will be completed over the coming year.

Delays to the lease for 12 Claremont made it impossible to begin renovation until the very end of the TTHAZ programme. Close to £600k was allocated to the project in match funding for professional fees before the end of the programme. However, the allocated funds were temporarily transferred to the Observer Building renovation with approval from Historic England with a commitment to provide this match. Additionally, due to the refusal from East Sussex County Council (ESCC) to allow housing to be included as part of the project, the housing element was replaced with plans for extended artists workspace and an international hosting centre for community practitioners and activists. The full 12 Claremont renovation works began in April 2024 following programme closure due to the above changes and delays. All temporarily reallocated funding has been diverted back to the project.

Capital grants made for buildings outside of Hastings Commons

Capital grants have been made to the former Debenhams Building for the restoration of the large fanlight window, Leyla’s for heritage door and window, 7 Claremont full shopfront restoration, and works to the Lower Alley area including stabilising the cliffs. Trinity Townhouse also received a capital grant for exterior works.

At the end of 2021 (after the works on the Lower Alley and Debenhams building were completed) to support the remaining capital grant distribution it was decided to appoint an architectural consultancy (Donald Insall) to undertake an independent prioritisation of 153 buildings within the area . This created a long-list of the 20 highest scoring properties and recommended that CLT staff engage with owners to investigate levels of interest. Contact was established with 11 properties. For a range of reasons (e.g. freeholders selling, leaseholders moving out, cost of works required being much higher than grant available) this was then whittled down to four and these were costed by Donald Insall. However, two of these then withdrew and when the works were tendered the costs came back at more than double what the architects had suggested. This is why only 7 Claremont and Leyla’s received a capital grant after 2021.

In total £342k was spent excluding match (of which £44k was spent on specialist legal and architectural support over the four years to meet the strict requirements of heritage works), made up of £300k that was part of the original bid and an additional £42k from underspends in other parts of the programme. Match funding of £374k was secured against the original target of £300k.

Support grants outside of Hastings Commons

Support grants were made to His Place and Holy Trinity churches, both of which have led directly to successful applications to National Lottery Heritage Fund bringing a further £5M+ into the neighbourhood over the coming years to renovate these two heritage assets at risk. We were not able during the period of the HAZ grant to meet our target of removing 1 heritage asset at risk from the register, but given the recent funding news we are confident that 2 will be removed over the coming years.

In addition, an annual programme of collective maintenance and cleaning was developed. Starting within the ‘investigations’ theme, this was later funded through the impact & legacy strand below.

In total £69k was spent excluding match against original allocation of £130k, with underspends allocated largely to other parts of the buildings strand which were able to spend funds during strict allocated timeframes within the year.  Match funding of just £10k was secured against the original target of £130k since we are only able to report match that was actually spent by 31 March 2024 - the additional National Lottery Heritage Fund of £5m+ will be spent over the coming years.

Overview of outputs

Description Unit Forecast Achieved
Heritage at Risk assets removed from the register Number of assets (buildings) 1 0
Historic building or heritage asset repaired / conserved Number of assets 29 24
Historic shopfront restored or reinstated Number of shopfronts 2 2
Public realm area improved Area (sq m) 590 540
Vacant or underused commercial floor space brought back into use Area (sq m) 790 2,117
New or revised historic area assessment / conservation area appraisal Number of assessments 1 1
New or revised heritage statement or conservation management plan Number of plans 8 8
Consultation event / activity (including online) Number of events / activities 1 1
Public event / activity (e.g., open day) Number of events / activities 1 1

Stories

Purpose as outlined in original bid (including Cultural Programme)

  • Work with a broad and diverse range of local people to reveal, reframe and celebrate the histories of the neighbourhood and its built heritage

Overview of spend

A programme of grants to local creatives and community groups to undertake cultural projects related to the neighbourhood, including:

Projects coordinated or led by Hastings Commons

  • Campaign Film (Observer Building tour)
  • Commoners Rock event
  • Commons brand development
  • Five Alleys research project
  • Isolation Station Hastings
  • Observer Building former employees video
  • Observer Building centenary - book and permanent display
  • Virtual Triangle by OBX
  • Wondergolf in the OB
  • Independence Day Film
  • Show your Love event
  • Heritage showcase event
  • Cultural programme artistic coordination and comms

Projects funded and led outside of Hastings Commons

  • America Ground book by Steve Peak
  • ‘Welcome to the America Ground’ (America Ground Business Group)
  • America Ground - The Legend - musical play and film
  • Arts on Prescription history mural tiles
  • Big ADVENTure by Hattie Spice
  • Project Art Works Untold Stories cultural pilot
  • Sea Beneath by MSL
  • Sun Shall Rise/Wild Horn Fair by MSL
  • Engagement event led by Trinity Townhouse in deepest lockdown
  • Frock up Friday
  • We Dig Hastings (Gardening Our Streets)
  • Women’s Voice suffragette map project
  • Living Memories project by Emma Harding
  • Looking out Looking In window displays at Debenhams
  • Love Letters workshop and event
  • Opus concerts
  • New Writing South poems/stories about the America Ground

In total £284k was spent excluding match, made up of £150k that was part of the original TTHAZ bid, £90k from the Cultural Programme plus a further £44k allocated from underspends in other parts of the programme. Of this £90k was for projects led by Hastings Commons, £55k for Cultural programme artistic coordination and comms, and £139k for projects led outside of Hastings Commons. Match funding of £89k was secured against the original target of £50k.

Overview of outputs

Main programme
Description Unit Forecast Achieved
Town guide / heritage trail Number of guides / trails 4 4
Interpretation boards / digital displays Number of boards / displays 2 2
Heritage/archaeological research studies Number of studies 3 3
Artwork / installation Number of artworks / installations 26 34
Engagement event / activity (including online) Number of events / activities 15 20
Public event / activity (e.g., open day) Number of events / activities 2 2
Other professional training activity Number of activities 2 1
Cultural Programme
Description Unit Forecast Achieved
Artwork/installation Number of artworks/installations 7 7
Artist in residence Number of days in residence 6 6
Engagement event/activity - including online (e.g. workshops) Number of events/activities 13 13
Public event/activity (e.g. open day/performance) Number of events/activities 6 7
School educational event/activity Number of events/activities 2 1
Other professional training activity Number of activities 4 4
Training session provided to volunteers Number of training sessions 15 15

Learning & Digital

Purpose as outlined in original bid

  • Develop and provide a range of training opportunities that build heritage skills.
  • Develop a digital exchange as a platform for audience development, heritage interpretation and impact mapping of HAZ programme activity.

Overview of spend

TTHAZ supported a range of projects led by Leisure & Learning, the registered charity that helps to ‘animate’ the Hastings Commons buildings to maximise their social and educational value. These included heritage stewards, Know Your Older Buildings, and the Kickstarter programme. It also supported the early development of the Creative Technology Hub which is now OBX, now providing community access to new technologies and delivering workshops to young people with complex needs and care experience. New projects include working with Fresh Visions Motivate, to support media spaces in their buildings across Hastings, and Commoning The Programme which is introducing young people to programming electronic media art works for the public. Early work on a local Digital Exchange was carried out by MSL.

In total £191k was spent excluding match, made up of £185k that was part of the original bid plus a further £6k allocated from underspends in other parts of the programme. Match funding of £483k was secured against the original target of £300k - in large part from central government funding to support the Kickstarter programme, as well as other funds secured by Leisure & Learning towards these activities.

Overview of outputs

Description Unit Forecast Achieved
Town guide / heritage trail Number of guides / trails 3 14
Consultation event / activity (including online) Number of events / activities 1 1
Engagement event / activity (including online) Number of events / activities 20 23
Public event / activity (e.g., open day) Number of events / activities 6 6
School event / activity Number of events / activities 3 3
Construction training activity Number of activities 1 1
Other professional training activity Number of activities 2 4

Impact & Legacy

Purpose as outlined in original bid

  • Investigate and seek to create a Neighbourhood Bond or similar to leverage private community investment into the HAZ area, enabling ongoing financing of heritage and neighbourhood development
  • Undertake development work to determine the feasibility and optimal approach to developing:
    • a Maintenance Club to encourage and enable better ongoing annual maintenance of buildings in the TTHAZ area;
    • a potential Development Order enabling public art and activities within the large open space to the west of the radial hub
    • reinventing the seafront garden at Robertson Terrace/Carlise Parade
  • Identify and develop network of technical specialists that can be drawn on to enhance the conversation specialist skills deficit in the area
  • Use TTHAZ funding to leverage at least an additional £2m of funding across all activities during the four year period

Overview of spend

In the early years this focused on a series of ‘investigations’ to explore ideas and projects that we believed could help the long-term community-led heritage-focused regeneration of the neighbourhood and eventually the wider town. These included:

  • Maintenance Club. Bringing together owners of buildings within the Trinity Triangle to collectively benefit from maintenance works to their buildings, especially for awkward works at height such as gutter clearance. This was up and running within the first year of the programme, not carrying out capital works but undertaking maintenance and cleaning across a wide range of properties required on an ongoing basis to prevent longer-term deterioration. Eventually a total of 28 buildings opted-in to the Maintenance Club including 6 Claremont; 6, 8 & 10 Trinity; 9, 38 & 44 Robertson; 23, 24 & 25 Claremont). This experimental project developed by Jericho Road Solutions has been recognised by Historic England and CADW as an important innovation and the local work will continue and expand under the leadership of the Love Hastings BID (Business Improvement District).
  • Cambridge Road Study. Urban Futures undertook a study of how to make safer the stretch of Cambridge Road between ESK and the Observer Building.
  • Monuments & Alleys. Surveys and plans for the future restoration of the Lion & Unicorn statues and the Waldegrave Fountain.
  • Neighbourhood Investment Mechanism. Research and development work to explore innovative options for alternative ways to attract and manage investment into the White Rock neighbourhood, including consideration of how it might fit within a nationwide approach to unlock large-scale investment such as pension funds to achieve affordable housing and neighbourhood transformation. This work is ongoing with support from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation..
  • Green Dreams’ investigation into the potential to reclaim one or more single parking spaces in the Trinity Triangle as mini-‘parklets’. This led to an experimental parklet and was taken forwards by Transition Town Hastings as the ‘We Dig Hastings’ project, using an innovative time credits approach to reward volunteers supporting the creation and care of a series of planters throughout the area.

In the final year of the programme the focus shifted more to evaluation of the impact and action to embed and extend the work. Many of the major capital developments supported by TTHAZ are still under ongoing development with further funding secured from other sources to continue to improve the area and provide increasing opportunities for engagement, jobs and cultural events. Many ongoing relationships and initiatives have begun and will be sustained into the future such as the Maintenance Club. The learning and investigation work provides a rich source of knowledge, experience, relationships and materials that will support ongoing heritage development in the area and inform future heritage strategies and investments across Hastings. To support the ongoing legacy Historic England have in principle agreed an additional year of funding (2024-25) to develop a heritage strategy which will extend the Trinity Triangle approach to heritage regeneration from Rock A Nore in the east to the former Bathing Pool at West St Leonards.

In total £253k was spent excluding match, with £315k having been allocated as part of the original bid. The underspends was allocated to other programme areas including programme delivery, partly since those carrying our programme delivery have significantly contributed to impact & legacy work as outlined below.

Match funding of £87k was secured against the original target of £200k. However, we significantly exceeded match funding targets across all other areas of the programme including additional leveraged funds from support grants as part of the buildings strand, and additional leveraged funds to support the Observer Building and 12 Claremont developments which will make a major contribution towards future impact & legacy.

Overview of outputs

Description Unit Forecast Achieved
Training session provided to volunteers Number of training sessions 12 12
Public event / activity (e.g., open day) Number of events / activities 2 2
Consultation event / activity (including online) Number of events / activities 2 2
New or revised historic area assessment / conservation area appraisal Number of assessments 1 1
Feasibility study Number of studies 7 7

Programme Delivery

Programme delivery was managed by a range of CLT staff over the four year period, including a dedicated project officer for most of the four years.  This included managing the administration of the programme; reporting and funding requirements; legal and heritage management; impact and evaluation; communications; securing matched funding and leverage; and partner engagement.

Throughout the TTHAZ programme decisions on grant awards across all strands were made by the HAZ Partners Board (outside of specific grant allocations already directly allocated by Historic England as part of the original bid or as later grant extensions).The HAZ Partners Board comprised the key partners who signed a Memorandum of Understanding which alongside Hastings Commons CLT included East Sussex County Council, Hastings Borough Council,East Sussex College,Love Hastings Limited, Project Art Works, Hastings Museum & Art Gallery and America Ground Business Group. (Note that Hastings Museum and the America Ground Business Group joined during Year 4). The Partners Board met: Jan, March, April, July, September, December 2020, March, October 2021, Feb, June, October 2022, Feb, June, July, November 2023, Feb 2024. 2021 was a difficult year with staff changes and a lack of statutory partner engagement which is why there were only two meetings that year. However a grants panel was established that year which made recommendations to the HAZ Partners Board for approval.

Meanwhile the Neighbourhood Stories/Cultural Programme supported over 30 separate cultural and creative projects. The HAZ Partners Board made decisions on all of these, with advisory support from the Grants Panel in 2021. In Year 4 a new approach was taken to invite expressions of interest and hold an engagement event (held on 26/7/23) to gain public feedback before the Partners Board met the next day to make their final decisions. In total £275k was spent excluding match, made up of £220k that was part of the original bid and a further £75k extension to recognise the growing size of the programme. Match funding of £383k was secured against the original target of £300k mostly from the additional time and support from Hastings Commons CLT.

The majority of grants made across TTHAZ across all strands were up to a maximum of 90% of the total cost (of e.g. capital works, bid preparation or project delivery), with applicants required to match at least 10% of costs themselves.