Dear Sirs,
Rye used to have a small recycling site which proved popular with local residents and was a useful and convenient community asset – so useful and convenient, in fact, that it was frequently overfull. Rother District Council recognised this and, true to form, rather than go to the trouble of perhaps finding a more suitable site compatible with demand, decided to close it completely.
Would this have happened if it was in Bexhill rather than Rye? Of course not, a proper solution would have been found. As it is, Rye has been left with the nearest recycling centre being at New Romney, which, although some miles away, has at least had the advantage of being able to take anything without the danger of running out of space. However, we are now told that Kent County Council intend to charge for anyone crossing the border from Sussex who wants to use it from April 1. Presumably, all arrivals will have to come with proof of address.
The KCC argument appears to be that because Sussex residents do not contribute, through their council tax, towards the cost of the site, then it is reasonable to ask them to pay when they use it.
However, we DO pay to use the disposal and recycling facilities that we used to have in Rye and which are no longer available. Instead, it is now necessary to travel to the Mountfield site on the far side of Battle – a round trip of about 26 miles.
Rother has admitted that they are aware of the dearth of waste sites at this end of the county but it seems, neither they nor ESCC have plans to do anything about it.
Once again Rye and the surrounding villages are regarded as convenient sources of money, but when it comes to spending any of that on much-needed local conveniences – clean public toilets come to mind, to say nothing of Rye’s swimming pool – we might as well be asking for the moon. Even our own representatives at Rother seem unwilling or incapable of doing their job and standing up for Rye.
