Rye News was contacted by Rye Chamber of Commerce who voiced their concerns about the effect the confirmed road closures will have on local businesses during the busiest trading season of the year, a view shared by publican John Rogers. The closures were confirmed in the following communication issued by National Highways:
A259 Brenzett to Rye resurfacing – Monday 22 May to Friday 4 August 2023
We’ll soon be carrying out essential resurfacing work on the A259 between Brenzett and Rye. We’re also going to take the opportunity to replace and improve the road signs along the road.
We’ll carry out our work in stages, starting on the evening of Monday 22 May and finishing on the morning of Saturday 5 August.
To minimise disruption, we’ll work on weeknights between the hours of 8pm and 6am, when there are fewer vehicles on the road. During the day we will keep the road open as usual.
Closure information
The A259 will be closed in stages between the Brenzett roundabout and Camber Road, East Guldeford, weeknights from 8pm to 6am the following morning, starting on Monday 22 May and finishing on the morning of Saturday 5 August (excluding Friday 26 and Monday 29 May).
As we progress, we’ll post information about where we’re working on our webpage: nationalhighways.co.uk/se-maintenance, just look for A259 Brenzett to Rye resurfacing.
During the closures, a diversion will be in place going in both directions via B2075, Lydd Road and Camber Road.
For businesses and residents within the closure area only, access will be maintained. Please approach the closure point for an escort. This is for access only.
Please note that these works are subject to change due to weather conditions or unforeseen circumstances.
Where to find out more
You can visit nationalhighways.co.uk/se-maintenance, and if you have any questions about this work, you can contact our customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000 open 24/7, who will direct your query to the team, or email: info@nationalhighways.co.uk.
Sarah Broadbent, vice chair of Rye Chamber of Commerce confirmed: "I spoke with National Highways earlier [11 May] in a bid to find out if there had been any consultation about the timing of these works and associated road closures, and to ask if there is any means of appealing or influencing the decision now. I made clear that the impact on our town for what will amount to nearly the whole of our critical summer season will be extensive. The number on the email from National Highways is just a centralised one but they took full details to pass on to the team responsible for this project so that they can contact me direct to discuss the issue. The response time is however 'ten working days' and clearly the work is scheduled to commence in seven working days - so that's less than ideal."
John Rogers, owner of the Globe Inn public house, has also voiced his concerns in an email to National Highways stating: "This is one of three main arterial roads into Rye and you are proposing to close this road from 8pm during the peak holiday period. This is peak time for pubs and restaurants and my public house, The Globe in Military Road, Rye relies upon the influx of holiday visitors via the A259 during June, July and August which you are going to close. The effect of your actions will put the viability of my business (and possibly the economy of Rye) at serious risk."
He goes on to say: "How are you permitted to carry out such work without consultation with our local councillors, member of parliament and those responsible for delivering the economy of the town? From memory you did the same thing last year on the Hastings side of Rye on the A259. I expect a written response to this email. John Rogers owner of the Globe PH."
In a phone call to Sarah Broadbent on Wednesday, May 17 National Highways confirmed that neither they nor local authorities are obligated to run public consultation ahead of works that are just deemed 'standard' - in this instance it's standard resurfacing.
The works are scheduled across 52 nights; they don't anticipate it taking that long but have factored in extra time in case of poor weather as they can't lay tarmac in the rain.
Given the nature of the road and the fact that it's the whole carriageway that needs resurfacing, they were unable to consider works involving one lane closure at a time / traffic lights etc - it has to be a whole road closure.
National Highways listened to all the points Sarah raised about the location of Rye and how this will impact the town and our hospitality industry in particular across the key trading season of the year. The contact at National Highways has gone away to talk to the site manager responsible for the works to see if there is the potential to commence the nightly works later in the evening thus enabling people to have time enough to visit Rye for the evening and get home easily. He promised he would call to update Sarah, if there are any significant changes to report, Rye News will update this article accordingly.
Update. Saturday 20 May. As promised, National Highways replied to Sarah Broadbent yesterday (Friday) in a very sincere and positive response, the email was from John Farnaby who is National Highways Programme Development Specialist. The complete email reads;
"Good afternoon Sarah
I have spoken to the project manager for the resurfacing work on the A259. I have made them aware of the concerns in regards to the closure timings, unfortunately, nothing can be done for the first few days of next week due to the materials already on order and a full assessment has been carried out on the carriageway in the first few nights, the project will then be planned in full.
The project team will look at starting later, possibly starting at 20:30 hours and if needed, this will be pushed back further, however, we need time to allow the tarmac to set before the road is reopened and we must reopen the carriageway by 6am the following morning.
The project is planned for 52 nights in total from 22 May – 4 August, works are planned to be complete by 28 July with a week of closures planned as a contingency at the end.
The project will commence from the A259 Brenzett Roundabout to the A259 Brooklands Roundabout, this will take 2 weeks to complete and no access allowed through the closure. The rest of the works will then commence in week 3 with access permitted to properties and business along the A259.
I have requested extra signage to be installed along the A259 and surrounding area stating “Businesses Open As Usual”, these signs will be installed this weekend and will stay until the works are completed.
I have another meeting next week with the project team when I will be able to update you further.
If you require anything else, please do not hesitate to get in touch with myself direct, my details are below".
It seems the concerns voiced by the Rye Chamber of Commerce have been taken seriously, they are representing their members well and fighting on behalf of Rye businesses. If you were wondering what the Chamber do, this is a great example, why not join them, surely you have nothing to lose.
