Parking and Housing
A special meeting of Rye Town Council was held on Monday July 11 to approve the borrowing application to purchase a house to let at a discounted rent and then to consider whether to support in principle the introduction of Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) to Rye.
Rother District Council are in the process of deciding whether to support, under the powers of ESCC as the enforcement authority, the introduction of CPE, if convinced of the business case.
Discussion of the CPE question was convoluted.
The general tenor of the meeting was that the District Council could do more to reduce on-street parking problems by making its own car parks more attractive by reducing its charges – and that, should CPE be initiated, the Town Council would like to be more involved in the process.
The Highways Authority, the County Council, will not act unless it has the support of RDC which via the good offices of one of our RDC Councillors has consulted RTC.
The “pros and cons of the issue could be discussed ad nauseam” it was time for a “yea or a nay” in the opinion of one councillor.
Other members felt that caution might be a better watchword and that one should be careful what one wished for. Citing instances of mismanagement of such schemes by private companies, imbalances of costs and projected incomes and the introduction of exorbitant charges having deleterious effects on regeneration and development, councillors urged prudence.
There was a suggestion that such projects were perhaps too easily embarked upon but difficult to stop. Once parking had been decriminalised it might unlikely that it could be ‘undone’.
Perhaps a less ambitious or adventurous RDC could be encouraged to adapt their existing parking strategies. By reducing car parking fees in their off-street sites thereby encouraging their use, they might ease the pressure on Rye streets.
The cheaper private carparks in town tended to be full, provided an excellent service to the town and might provide an exemplar for RDC.
The Council decided not to the support the motion, caution was required, “sit and wait and see” was the maxim and it should be made clear to Rother District Council that Rye Town Council wished to be further involved in the decision making process.
So the aforementioned councillor had his way there was a deal of discussion and it was a “nay” to the principle of supporting the introduction of CPE.
The Council agreed that borrowing approval for the Discounted Accommodation proposal be sought and the application form submitted.
At the close of the Council Meeting there ensued a hiatus for coffee, cigarettes and musical chairs as personnel moved around and The Planning and Townscape Committee discussed applications, The Neighbourhood Plan (NP) and The Community Structure Levy (CIL).
The Committee received an update on the Neighbourhood Plan from Anthony Kimber and readers are directed to the excellent and highly informative website.
http://www.ryeneighbourhoodplan.org.uk/rye-neighbourhood-plan/
The list of improvement priorities under CIL will be referred to and discussed by the Full Council. The only proviso made by the Planning Committee was that the Station Approach Safety issue was the top priority.
photo: library image
RTC are a total disgrace. There is a huge parking problem in Rye town centre. The only solution is to enforce the rules. 1 hour parking, then a ticket. No parking on double yellow lines. The town’s shop owners and workmen, who mainly seem to fill the spaces day in and day out in the High Street, Cinque Ports Street, Tower Street etc., will have to pay for parking in the market car park or further away. Clearly they haven’t worked it out. If people can park, conveniently, they will spend more money in their shops. Otherwise, like me, they will turn to Amazon and home delivery for most of our needs.
I attended the RTC meeting on Monday and was staggered that the Council voted not to support CPE in principle, but then as an afterthought said that it wanted to be kept informed. A range of associated issues were raised such as a second loading bay, reducing RDC parking charges ,being careful what you wish for( the latest way of not wanting to change things). Not one speaker referred to the real issue of lack of enforcement and Police indifference which I found very surprising in the light of all the publicity that has been given to the perceived anarchy in Rye.. Surely CPE appears to be the only route to get back control of enforcement and develop a parking policy to suit the needs of Rye. A most uninspiring demonstration of the Council at work.
Mike Eve
Surely an answer to the towns parking problem,is to tarmac, the middle Salts over, used twice a year for funfairs, and once for the bonfire, make it free parking, and no parking in high street,only for deliveries, and disabled.
Oh dear. Another supine Town Council afraid of its own shadow. Without CPE nothing, absolutely nothing, can happen. You have wound the clock back to zero. It would be interesting to your electors to know who voted for and against.
Couldn’t we come to some arrangement with the owners of the site that was due for supermarket development recently, that this be used temporarily for parking for the town?
What a bizarre, difficult to read and poorly written report of a strange, odd decision …
While enforcement of traffic regulations is not within the scope of the Neighbourhood Plan , the plan does address the parking issue and proposes a strategy. However without any prospect of enforcement spatial policies are of little help.
Ryeneighbourhoodplan.org.uk
It seems Rye Council have yet again missed an opportunity to get to grips with the parking chaos in the town by rejecting CPE. There is only one practical solution which will overcome the lack of law enforcement and that is CPE. For how long to we have to suffer this continual lack of action by this Council?
We only now discover through the Rye Observer that the CPE decision was made by only 6 Town Councillors.
Rye News should have done a more accurate and complete job of reporting this issue.
The unfortunate citizens unrepresented by the missing Councillors should demand another vote with the full Council present.
Perhaps the Town Clerk could let us know how we request such a move.
A meeting of 6 Councillors is barely quorate.
Peter, you are right, a lot of spaces are taken up by workmen carrying out improvements and repairs to property. It can be very impractical to park at a distance to the property but, yes, some of the time we could do better. I have suggested previously that a permit system could be introduced at a cost to the builder or shopkeeper. This revenue could be put toward the cost of enforcement. When we had a police presence and a sensible local policy builders could get dispensation for a particular location for a limited time and a limited number of these dispensations were issued. At the end of the day it all comes down to enforcement. Many residents of the town abuse the parking rules too, remaining in 1 hour bays for days on end !
I have to strongly object to the high handed assertion regarding Rye Town Council voiced by ‘Peter’ – no surname supplied! The real disgrace are the habitual car driving offenders who repeatedly flout the rules. park for hours, block the junctions and use pavements when they can’t find any other illegal way to park. The time and resources spent policing and seeking solutions to this anti-social behaviour would hardly be necessary if everyone who drives in Rye would pledge to become part of a solution instead of blithely contributing to the problem.