Rye Town Council has called a special meeting on Monday September 16 to discuss proposed plans for parking charges and traffic wardens in Rye.
Councillors will consider whether or not to comment on East Sussex County Council’s (ESCC) formal consultation on the introduction of Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) with parking tickets and traffic wardens in Rother District Council’s (RDC) area, which includes Rye.
Local business concerns about CPE were discussed at a town council meeting on September 2, but no-one on the town council seemed to be aware that ESCC’s formal consultation was actually going to start the following Friday.
ESCC says on its website that responses to the earlier informal consultation are not being carried forward into this formal consultation, and those still with concerns will need to resubmit them if they feel ESCC has not addressed them.
At the same time ESCC has advertised under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 the East Sussex (Rother District) (Parking Places, Waiting, No Stopping and Loading Restrictions) Traffic Regulation Order 201 (TRO201) which covers Rye as well as other parts of Rother District.
This, along with many other documents – of which at least six or more appear to apply to Rye – reflects the whole process leading up to TRO201 which then has to be approved by Parliament as, in addition to the 1984 Act, it is covered by other legislation in the form of the 1991 RTA and the 2004 TMA (Traffic Management Act).
Whether there is any further consultation while the Department for Transport (DfT) takes the Order through Parliament is unclear, but local Members of Parliament covering Rother District can raise issues with the DfT, its Ministers, or in Parliament (when it is not prorogued).
For now though there are a lot of documents and details to check in order to see if concerns already raised have been addressed by ESCC ; and the town council may decide to comment further on the proposals – particularly if there are “devils in the details“.
Image Credits: John Minter .
In respect of the questions that both the Town council and residents have regarding the procedure involved with the proposed parking restrictions, there is a transport meeting at which Amber Rudd will be present during October, mainly to focus on the fast train service, which I will be attending, it might be worth contacting her office to enquire if a member of the TC could attend?