Last week Rye News reported on local opposition to a planning application by an aggregate business in Rye Harbour . The company has issued the following statement:
"Long Rake Spar are committed to being considerate operators in the locations that we work and welcome expressions of concern through constructive discussion. We have temporarily extended our working hours in order to protect the health and safety of our team and ensure social distancing on site. To achieve this we have extended our shift patterns to maintain production levels, safeguard jobs and continue to support the local economy.
During this period of economic uncertainty we have been fortunate to experience increased demand for our products to aid nationwide building and construction efforts. As a result of this we have created new positions and have widened our recruitment, providing long term, stable employment within the local area.
We have increased employee numbers from an initial three members of staff to 15 and with the permission of the local authority to extend working times we hope to employ an additional five employees.
A region of busy industry
Rye Harbour is a region of busy dockside and manufacturing industry and the area as a whole is defined as B1, B2 and B8 classification with the movement of lorries a necessity to the viability of all businesses, including Long Rake Spar, in this location.
We aim to run our production activity as efficiently as possible and minimising the impact to the local environment and community is an ongoing concern and priority. We are committed to working with local authorities, planning committees and architects to minimise light and noise pollution and once a decision has been agreed on the best means to progress, we will carry this out with immediate effect.
It is our intention to run a clean, low dust operation site, not only for the benefit of local residents but for the welfare of our workforce. We have recently invested substantial amounts in cleaner surfacing across the site to minimise dust generated from vehicles running across rough ground. However this is an ongoing project and we will do our utmost to continue to improve.
We have already made considerable efforts to mitigate the impact of operations on local residents including additional dust suppression units on the plant, upgraded silencing equipment on drying machinery and have made provision for a bund perimeter boundary around the site with an additional tree planting scheme to greatly enhance the appearance of the site and reduce noise and light pollution which will take place in the autumn.
We aim to achieve a positive dialogue through the appropriate channels and are in constant communication with Rother District Council and local planning authorities".
Source: Long Rake Spar
