Rye Hire, in Cyprus Place, is one of those Rye institutions that seems to have been there as long as anyone can remember (actually 27 years), and which, at some time or other almost every resident of the town must have visited. Whether you need a lawn mower or bicycle serviced, paving slabs for a patio, building materials for almost any job, hire of power tools or just that awkward-sized nut and bolt you can't find anywhere else, this business will be able to help.
However, on the expiration of their lease from Rother District Council (RDC), the site's owner, they were informed that there would be no renewal and while time would be allowed to find alternative premises, the site was now going to be redeveloped for housing.
The council is, like most local authorities particularly in the south east, under pressure from central government to build more houses and it seemed initially that this piece of land would be a suitable brown-field site. Rother planners would not, at that time, have known the value of Rye Hire to the town and they were surprised at the reaction to their proposal to consider a planning application from Alliance Homes - a development company formed by RDC. This application has not yet been received, but is likely to be for seven homes, of which four will be 'affordable housing'.
Rye Hire have spent the last two years searching for an alternative site, but have been unable to find anything suitable for their particular requirements. This means that the business would have to close, with the loss of a significant asset to Rye together with a number of jobs.
However, it would seem that there might just be glimmerings of light at the end of the tunnel: up until a few years ago, many in Rye regarded RDC as 'the enemy' - a governing body who cared little for anything outside their main territory of Bexhill. Whether that attitude was justified or not, recent years have seen big changes both in the senior professional management of the council and of many of the councillors themselves, and there is now a much greater desire to work with towns such as Rye. In fact Rye News understands that had RDC been aware of the circumstances and strength of feeling attached to Rye Hire, they might have looked at the future of this site in another way.
They have issued a statement to Rye Town Council that includes the following:
"We have had on-going discussions with Rye Hire for some time and fully understand why the business is important to Rye, both in terms of the services provided and the voluntary work the staff undertake with the local fire brigade. As a result, we have recently been working closely with Rye Hire and our architects to look at whether we can develop a scheme where the business remains in Cypress [sic] Place, whilst still delivering much needed housing for the area".
It is worth noting that the Rye Neighbourhood Plan and the local plan both state that existing employment sites will be safeguarded if the business is viable and the site continues to be suitable for employment. Rye Hire meets these criteria. And it is not as if there is a lack of alternatives; there are several, and these are all laid out in the neighbourhood plan approved by Rye residents in a referendum and signed off by Rother. The plan does not include the Rye Hire site as a site housing or mixed use allocation.
Rye Town Council has been co-ordinating a protest to RDC's action and have engaged a consultant to help develop the argument in favour of Rye Hire. If you want to add your voice to the protest you can email the following Council members:
Councillor Doug Oliver (leader): cllr.doug.oliver@rother.gov.uk
Councillor Christine Bayliss (economic development and regeneration): cllr.christine.bayliss@rother.gov.uk
Councillor Jonathan Vine-Hall (strategic planning): cllr.jonathan.vine-hall@rother.gov.uk
Councillor Howard Norton (Rye and Winchelsea): cllr.howard.norton@rother.gov.uk
Councillor Genette Stevens (Rye and Winchelsea): cllr.gennette.stevens@rother.gov.uk
