Rother District Council has taken action over the illegal fly-tipping that has been proliferating in the empty site on Ferry Road (See fly-tipping at Ferry Road site worsens) giving some cause for optimism that there will be a response from the developers, Plutus (Rye) Ltd.
In October it was reported to Rother’s Environmental Health Service that household, garden and building waste had been dumped at the site and that this included sheets and tiles of asbestos. After a further chase in November, a community protection officer visited the site last week and has now written to Plutus (Rye) Ltd giving them seven days to secure the site. He has a further visit planned on Monday, December 9 to check to see if that has been done. If the site is left unsecured, the council can follow this up with a notice under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, requiring them to secure the land and to remove the waste.
The site, the former Thomas Peacocke Lower School, has lain empty for many years with plans to develop it first put forward in 2016 with planning permission granted by Rother District Council in 2020. However, the development did not go ahead and this planning permission expired. In 2024 Plutus (Rye) Ltd submitted a new set of plans for the site to include a mix of homes: 15 custom built, 31 open sale houses and flats and 42 retirement living apartments – 88 in total (see Ferry Road site update)
In February this year, Rye Town Council unanimously rejected the plans after councillors and the public expressed a number of concerns about the development, the most important of which was the lack of affordable / social housing in the plans.
Rother District Council commissioned an independent report into the financial viability of including affordable / social housing in the development, as Plutus claimed that it was not financially feasible to do so. The report by Porter PE Planning Economics, published in August 2024, disagreed with the developer’s claims and concluded that it would be possible financially to include affordable housing in their plans.
A final decision on Plutus’ planning application from Rother’s planning department had been due to be completed by August 31 2024 but to date planning permission has not been granted.
Image Credits: Rye News library , Rye News Library .