With his smart silver-grey 4×4 with Rye Town Council livery, the new town steward is doing everything he can to make Rye a more pleasant place in which to live and more attractive to visitors.
Nicky Ledger has a wide-ranging brief and his priority is the safety, comfort and convenience of the pedestrian. Keeping footpaths clean, clearing litter from publicly accessible areas, cleansing and maintaining the skate park and other council assets, and generally acting as “the eyes and ears of the town”, Ledger works a 20-hour flexible week. He can tackle most things – “apart from filling potholes”, he says.
Only four weeks following his appointment, we are already seeing a difference. I met Ledger clearing unsightly vegetation overhanging Conduit Hill by the end of the town wall. His previous job was as a mechanic, and he enjoys fixing things – “catching up on the neglect, and there’s been a lot of that in recent years”, he says.
Ledger welcomes feedback from residents, who can contact him via Rye Town Council on Facebook, or by email , or by phoning 01797-223902 to report “grot-spots” that cry out for attention. Living on Tilling Green, he knows Rye well, having come here at the age of five with his family, some 25 years ago. “I like being in the community, working for the community. It’s very positive.”
Photo: Kenneth Bird