Rye mayor, Andi Rivett updates you on his busy diary and seeks your views on the wild Salts and additional parking controls.
Fundraising times
Rye Hospital has a number of fundraisers on at the rugby club and I was delighted to attend their quiz night recently (which raised £535) and their big screen film night which was a lovely evening with a lot of new people coming along to enjoy the show.
They have a music night on Saturday, August 13 and another event coming up that sounds like great fun if, like me, you can remember back to the 1970s and It’s a Knock-Out. Well, it’s coming to Rye on Saturday, September 3 so, after the flower and produce annual event at the community centre (which is always a delight to attend and see how clever our green-fingered allotment holders are) I will be cheering on the teams at the rugby club on the 3rd.
007's author and a crafty cheque
A few weeks ago. I had the great pleasure of attending a fascinating talk on The Shady Life of Ian Fleming, by the incredibly knowledgeable Brigadier Hugh Willing. The event, hosted by the Craft Club, which raises funds through Rye Golf Club, was packed, and the audience enjoyed every minute of the twists and turns of the author’s life, much like his fictional character, James Bond.
A Craft Club cheque for £2,000 was formally presented (see top photo) on Wednesday, July 20 at the town hall for those recently displaced Ukrainians and their hosts living in Rye and the surrounding area.
The craft club, with its distinctive elephant logo, was founded at Rye Golf Club in 1991 to raise money for three charities, namely Save the Children, RNLI and SSAFA (Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen), but on this occasion an exception was made in order to help local Ukrainian families.
Since its establishment the craft club has recruited over 30,000 members world-wide and raised over £300,000, mainly through golf competitions at Rye and several other affiliated golf clubs. The craft club has in the past contributed a substantial amount to the Rye lifeboat, which is in regular use and one of the fastest and newest in the RNLI fleet.
Parking controls to spread?
Some residents – especially those living in the Grove, Love Lane, Bedford Place, Military Road and North Salts - will have recently received a letter from the county council about on-street parking and asking them to give their views on a number of proposed changes to the civil parking enforcement scheme.
I urge residents to respond to this consultation because, as we know, there are a lot of pinch-points in the town which need some action, and it would be really helpful for the council to know your views. The town council will also be responding and information on how this will be done will be publicised shortly.
Better wild? Or best tamed?
I would be really interested in your thoughts about the state of the Salts between the old putting green and Rock Channel East. Some have said that they like the fact that Rother has left it to go wild.
Others are very concerned about the fact that it appears to be very limited in the plants that are growing there and some may even be dangerous; that it is an environmental hazard as even the most astute dog walkers cannot find what their dogs have left behind; and others have mentioned the potential fire hazard.
Rye Town Council would like Rother District Council to get this cut back, so that kids and all generations can enjoy the full recreational benefits of the area and also that Rother should put up a goal post for youngsters to have a kick about after school and exercise. Your thoughts please!
And how are you on a raft?
The sea festival (of which I am the chairman) is not long away now and we are looking for more teams to enter the raft race and tug of war. There are also a few pitches left if you would like a stall on the Salts and we hope you’ll all come along and enjoy this family-fun day on Sunday, September 11 from 11am to 4pm.
Talking of the sea, I actually managed to get some sailing in this weekend on a beautiful wooden vessel. Oh, and we are singing sea shanties at the Waterworks pub on the evening of Wednesday, August 3 – come along me hearties and join in!
