Hastings Council To Fund Specialist Landslide Team

Hastings council leaders have agreed to fund a specialist team in response to several landslides which hit the town last winter. 

The funding was agreed at a meeting of Hastings Borough Council’s cabinet on Monday (June 10), with £250,000 to be drawn from reserves to fund the team’s work in 2024/25 and 2025/26.

Around half of this funding is to come from monies set aside as a climate change levy, with officers saying it could be used as “a direct response to mitigation and adaptation of climate change impacts.”

Cllr Mark Etherington, whose cabinet portfolio includes planning and infrastructure, said:

“It is pretty clear I think that the body of opinion … is that storms are likely to become more frequent and rainfall more intense. In a town with the topography of Hastings … this is a risk that can’t be ignored.

“I can only imagine the devastating effects that events like this … have on residents and it seems to me essential that we are as ready as we can be to assist people placed in this position and to try, as far as we can, to mitigate future risk.”

Before making their decision, cabinet councillors considered a report setting out how the team would support those affected by several landslides last winter and be responsible for developing a ‘prevent and respond’ strategy for future incidents. 

In the report, a council spokesperson said:

“Incidences of landslide activity across the borough have increased in recent times as a result of changing weather patterns and extreme rainfall.

“The council needs to learn from recent events and create an effective Prevent and Respond Strategy, supported by an increase in specialist officer capacity; access to appropriately qualified expertise, and the creation of a comprehensive geotechnical data resource for the borough.”

The spokesman added:

“It is clear that the council needs specialist officers with the knowledge and capacity to support the current incidents and to develop and implement the prevent and respond strategy work streams. A budget allocation is therefore requested to progress this work as a matter of urgency.”

The report goes on to set out details of the landslides which prompted the funding.

These include a landslide which affected residents of Marina and West Hill Road in November. In all 13 properties had to be evacuated, two of which still remain uninhabitable. 

Another landslide hit properties in Caves Road and Caves Mews in February, which saw three households handed evacuation notices.

The report also goes on to discuss the landslide at Old Roar Gill — a nature reserve owned by the council — which also took place in February. Two households were served emergency evacuation orders as a result of this incident, with two others handed hazard notices. 

The report says the landslide at Old Roar Gill remains active, with some movement still being detected in the area. 

The report reads:

“The foot of the slip is at the bottom of the valley and is completely inaccessible. Any plant or equipment installed at the top of the slip could exacerbate movement, with potentially further serious consequences. It will therefore be extremely difficult to manage the slip. 

“The council is continuing to engage with the directly affected residents and their insurance companies to determine how to remediate the landslip, and how the necessary studies and next steps are commissioned and funded.

“Once there is clarity about next steps, further engagement will take place with the wider residents in the Gill area.”