Rye Town Clerk Richard Farhall has been pleading with the government on behalf of Rye:
To The Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP, Secretary of State for Transport, Great Minster House,
33 Horseferry Road, London SW1P 4DR:
Dear Mr Shapps,
Your Department is considering currently the preparation of a Bill to transfer parking enforcement powers from Sussex Police to East Sussex County Council. The Rother District includes Rye, a small market town with a high degree of dependence on its visitor economy.
The current Traffic Regulation Order in Rye’s town centre provides for drivers to park for an hour before having to vacate the bay (with no return within 2 hours).
During East Sussex County Council’s Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) consultation process - along with Rye & District Chamber of Commerce – Rye Town Council (which is not opposed to CPE in principle) argued consistently that removing one hour of free parking would be detrimental to the local economy.
The Civil Parking Enforcement scheme operated by Ashford Borough Council in Tenterden (considered to be Rye’s nearest ‘competitor town’) provides for this - and now we have the added challenge of post COVID-19 economic recovery to factor in.
Removal of the one hour of free parking provision can only have an adverse impact on Rye’s local economy and Rye Town Council requests that you consider asking East Sussex County Council to reconsider this element of its proposed scheme – ie to reinstate one hour of free parking at the start of each day.
Yours sincerely, Richard Farhall, Town Clerk, Rye Town Council
Source: Rye Town Council
