Hastings Borough Council has been granted Government permission to prevent seafront properties being 'blighted' by estate agents' sales and letting boards.
According to the Council, local residents and businesses had complained that the boards were having a negative visual effect on the area.
Councillor Matthew Lock, lead member for Planning Services, said, 'For too long all you could see up and down the seafront was hundreds of boards, often two or three on one property. We asked the Government to grant us powers to control the number of boards that are put up and they have told us they intend to grant us that power. Effectively it would mean that the automatic right to erect boards is taken away and instead letting and sales agents must come through the Council’s planning department.'
The effected area runs along the seafront from Grosvenor Gardens to Pelham Crescent, with an exception for the commercial area between Robertson Street and Pelham Crescent.
A similar scheme has been running successfully in Brighton for several years.
(Photo: Hastings Borough Council)