More than two years ago in November 2014, Rye News drew attention to the risks posed by illegally parked vehicles obstructing the emergency services from reaching an incident scene. These concerns were repeated and amplified at public meetings this year on March 2 and March 3 2016. In response to our open letter to the Police and Crime Commissioner, published in Rye News on November 3, I was contacted by Sgt Dave Townsend of Hastings and Rother Neighbourhood Policing Team, Sussex Police. We met last Wednesday November 30 at the police station in Cinque Ports Street.
I asked him what support the police can provide to uphold traffic regulations and illegal parking in the town. He responded by referring to Operation Police Crackdown which enables members of the public to report incidents of speeding and antisocial driving. This was having some positive impact. He would check whether the reporting of anti-social parking could be brought within the ambit of this reporting scheme.
He stated firmly however that “the emphasis is now on Rother District Council to explore civil parking. There is a problem in Rye, but we see it as a responsibility for the local community to solve. The police simply do not have the resources to administer this.
“When I first started in Rye, there were eight beat officers here, but today we have fewer officers and work as a neighbourhood team with Hastings and Rother with a different set of policing priorities. In today’s environment, keeping people safe is paramount. People may think there’s not a lot going on in Rye, but there is an underside that most residents do not see. We have issues with drugs and other criminality, which must take preference.”
With regard to possible initiatives to ease the traffic chaos in the town, Sgt Townsend said: “Various alternatives were suggested at the public meeting attended by the Police and Crime Commissioner last year on March 3 2016. The concept of decriminalisation would require investment in renewing road markings and installing pay-points, and the police offered at that meeting to provide manpower resource for the initial period to realise the scheme. The town council set up an exploratory working group, but we are not aware what progress has been made. Rother is one of only 17 districts in the country that has not adopted civil parking enforcement.
“There are 134 timed spaces in Rye and 845 car park spaces provided by 11 car parks. The issue is that people prefer to drive into the centre and not walk up the hill or from Gibbet’s Marsh car park, say, which is a bare three minutes from the Strand. Basically, we do not have and cannot commit resources for enforcing parking regulations. If the residents and traders in the town could be persuaded to free up the available timed spaces, then incoming shoppers and visitors would not be so desperate to leave their vehicles where they cause obstruction."
In conclusion, Sgt Townsend confirmed his view that addressing the traffic problems in Rye was the responsibility of the whole community.
Photo: Rye News Library
