Tempers flare at council meeting

It was a full house at the Rye council meeting on Monday, with Rye residents filling all seats, and the council in full gown attire.

First on the agenda were requests for financial support. Representatives from two worthwhile charities, Pett Level Independent Rescue Boat Association and Rye Bay Football Club, presented how they help our community and they both successfully petitioned monetary support for their organisations. They received £1000 and £500 respectively.

But the main event on Monday, was discussion on the future management of the Rye allotments at Love Lane and South Undercliff.

As background, two members of Rye council have been managing the governance of Rye’s allotments for 10 years, under the title CIC (Community Interest Company). The CIC’s governance ended in November, 2023. In July 2023, Rye council appointed an Allotments Management Task and Finish Group to research options and then report to the council an optimal, new management structure for the allotment sites. The allotment associations of Love Lane and South Undercliff were asked for their views and the majority wanted to combine to create a new organisation to manage both sites on RTC’s behalf. The sub-committee wrote a report of their findings and presented this to the Rye council on Monday. The report recommends that the management of the allotments should be kept under the management of Rye Town Council and that “RTC establishes an Allotments Committee – comprising both (non-conflicted) Members and representatives of the two Associations and the Community Garden. The Committee would provide a formal mechanism for the main interested parties to work together, agree devolved powers, address disputes, identify funding requirements, discuss issues and concerns etc”.

In Monday’s meeting, the mayor asked the sub-committee to identify themselves by raising their hands. Councillors Andy Stuart, Cheryl Creaser, David Bookless, Michael Boyd, John Breeds, William Everett and Chris Hoggart did so. The sub-committee consisted of 6 people who do not have connections to the subject. They do not own an allotment and they are not members of the CIC.

Concerns were raised in heated discussions and passionate presentations by the allotment holders, who were then given one minute each to share key points they wanted the council to address. Various issues of concern and questions emerged from the points made:

• 77% of allotment holders asked for self-governance as part of a survey the sub- committee carried out. Why is this being ignored in the report?
• Given the challenging behaviour of CIC members, why are they still potentially allowed to be included in the management group?
• Why are allotment holders excluded from any voting rights?
• What knowledge and experience do council members have for making decisions regarding the allotments, that allotment holders and councillors with allotments do not have? (Both groups will be excluded from voting on decisions according to the report).
• What structures of governance did the sub-committee explore, and how did they reach their decision?
• How does the governance body plan to build trust between themselves and the allotment holders?
• How transparent will the council be regarding where fees for allotments are going?
• What is the time-frame for changing to full self governance in the future?

It was clear one of two of the audience who spoke did so with a great deal of courage, given the anger and upset they have endured through trying to work with the old governance structure.

As the discussions developed, tempers flared and faces reddened. The audience clapped, stamped and shouted “Hear Hear!” for particular comments they supported. This rowdiness provoked the council to remind everyone that there were rules of behaviour that should be adhered to. Certain behaviours were even described as bullying, with hushed tones of “rubbish” from the (now defunct) CIC council members in response. Pleas for “patience dear people” where called for….

To quote Council member Cheryl Creaser:

“You have to realise the process of handover is complicated. I can understand all your frustrations. All the taskforce members, including myself, have never wanted or had aspirations to own an allotment. Everything we do is behind closed doors.  Lots of people need to be involved. If we get this wrong, we will lose the allotments. South Undercliff will get re-developed. Without the CIC involved you won’t have your allotment. So that’s upsetting for all of us. The District Council are not statutory, so they can develop on the land. This will be a tragedy. Even if I don’t have an allotment, I would be very upset. We are not giving up. We are pleased you allotment holders are passionate, but you are letting your emotions get you upset. This is not them versus us. You elected us. A lot of us put our heart and soul into this and seeing your distress upsets us. Sorry you are feeling this way. We are one group. If you don’t like it you can vote in the elections. But at the end of the day you need to trust us to get it right. We cannot give you a SLA (Service Level Agreement) until you become the sole owner, until we can get legal agreement from Rother.”

Her statement was challenged by Anthony Kimber, also in the audience and author of the Neighbourhood Plan:

“Let me please state the status of the allotments. They are quite clearly statutory.  In 2019, we finalised the neighbourhood plan, which in itself is a statutory document, with a national examiner and key Rother officials and it was agreed that the allotments are statutory. It is recorded in the plan. So it is dangerous for councillors here to start talking about Rother’s ability to develop the allotments.  They are statutory. I have all the documentary evidence that goes way back to the 19th century. The plan that is owned by Rye Town Council makes that quite clear.”

Sitting in the audience, one got the impression that if this had been a previous century, for example under the rule of King Henry V11, we might even have had a few allotment holders dragged out and put into stocks for their insolence …

But, Rye’s mayor finally brought proceedings to order. A justifiable delay in governance decision-making was agreed (we think?) by the council, to ponder over the evidence and the passion for self-governance from the allotment holders.

Image Credits: Burton Wheeler .