It was good to see the public gallery at the town hall busy again on Monday, February 12 this time to discuss the planning application at 23 Ferry Road, otherwise known as the Lower School Site. The new application is looking to build 88 dwellings on the site, including older persons’ accommodation. There was unanimous opposition to this tightly packed application on the grounds of no affordable homes, doubts about drainage on this side of Rye, the height of the new homes, the environmental impact, access, and more. Whilst we all know something has to be done with this site, and that we need good homes for local people to be able to stay in Rye, the council felt this application was not suitable and sent such comments to Rother District Council’s planners. There is still time to put your thoughts in on the application, which will be heard soon.
It was also a pleasure to have been invited to the community centre on Saturday, February 17 for an event informing us all about environmental issues in our area. The centre piece was a load of old rubbish, literally! This has been washed up and collected by the wonderful Strandliners volunteers, who are able to categorise the detritus to try and work out where it is coming from. There were many other groups there too, including our Three Rivers project, where I caught up with Cllr Learoyd Smith and Cllr Creaser, both strong advocates of this project and doing excellent work. It was great to see all our local volunteers together, raising awareness of the importance of looking after our environment.
Given the amount of rain we’ve had this year, it is impossible to put the goal posts back on the ‘bonfire’ side of the Salts. We must ensure that the Iron Salts are well maintained this year, as events are planned on this site, but perhaps Rother District Council could put the goal posts here, as kids need to exercise.
There was a meeting of the Cinque Ports Confederation representatives on Thursday, February 15. They are looking to rebuild their website so that it is much more informative, interactive, and can help promote the Cinque Ports towns.
We are hopeful that the micro-woods project to plant more trees in the area comes off, which is in the hands of Rother at the moment.
It’s good to see shipping coming back to the Port of Rye, and I’ve been out with our harbour master seeing them into the wharf for the past few weeks.
I’d like to thank whoever did the excellent repair on the Gun Garden archway. It has been done really well, with good craftsmanship, and means that this entrance can be opened up again.
And, of course, it has been scallops week again. A resounding thank you to Oliver Campion for all the hard work he puts into this, which is a great start to the tourist season in the town. Rye Bay Crew will be performing again on Saturday, February 24 - all tickets have now been sold. Well done to former mayor, Jonathan Breeds for singing and chef-ing throughout the evening. We were also in the Waterworks on Valentine’s night, and raised £250 towards helping local youngsters get to Montreuil-sur-Mer in May.
This will be an informative and educational visit for them, learning about the history of the town, and enjoying new cultures and opportunities. This means Rye Bay Crew have now raised £1,000, mostly at the Waterworks, so a very big thanks to David and all his staff, and to all the customers who come along and give so generously.
