Back in April, I penned an article for Rye News about the three large electronic screens that had suddenly popped up — without planning permission, it’s now known — on the A259/Fishmarket Road roundabout.
In an astonishing decision which many people feel could have potentially harmful economic and heritage implications for Rye, Rother District Council’s (RDC) planning division has just approved — with conditions — continued use of the screens.
I urge RDC to confirm whether they are going to table this highly contentious planning application at their next planning committee meeting on September 7, where it can be discussed properly and voted on by the full committee.
I’m not alone in pointing out that this decision sets a deeply worrying precedent for Rye, because it will surely open the floodgates for every other business in the town to install electronic screen advertising. How will Rye attract visitors as an historic Cinque Ports town with electronic advertising glaring from every shopfront?
To add insult to injury, the present screens are sited inside the Rye Conservation Area — where historic character and heritage are meant to be protected — and on a busy roundabout where the main object of the technology is to attract the attention of drivers. It doesn’t take a genius to argue that “attracting the attention” pretty much equates to “distracting” in this context. National Highways, which is meant to protect road users from harm, does not appear to agree that this advertising contravenes legislation which states that no advertisement should be sited so as to endanger persons using a highway and that it should not impair the visual amenity of the site. The organisation completely fails to recognise Rye’s historic character in its recommended conditions, as does RDC by approving the application.
The council, meanwhile, acknowledges that no advertisement should endanger people using the highway, but by deciding to approve the screens RDC seems to have dodged an argument whose implications seems blindingly obvious to everyone else. In short, electronic advertising is designed to distract: that’s its raison d’être. Drivers and pedestrians should not be distracted in this way, especially on a busy roundabout.
If this application is not tabled at RDC’s planning committee, we will have a situation where Rother’s most historic town, described as “rising like a jewel” from Romney Marsh, will soon sink like a stone under a welter of bright, illuminated screens pushing advertising at visitors and local residents everywhere they go.
This is not a question of opposing new technology, or being anti-business: far from it. It’s a question of protecting Rye’s historic character and heritage from intrusive “in your face” advertising that threatens to assault one wherever one goes in town. I also believe the current screens are positioned too close to the office windows, when the Town & Country Planning regulations state that illuminated advertising needs to be set back at least one metre from the window.
I should point out that the conditions of the screens’ planning approval mean that their impact will not be quite as damaging as some people initially feared. A small concession to common sense. The screens will be turned off between 8pm and 8am. In other hours of darkness, such as during winter, a maximum brightness of 300cd/m2 will be allowed. There will also be controls on frequency of adverts, a ban on moving images, animation, flashing, scrolling, intermittent or video elements.
It’s unclear whether the screens in question are sophisticated enough to turn themselves off at the right time or to adjust their brightness automatically at specific times of day.
Despite the planning conditions, the fact is that a huge precedent for electronic screen advertising has been set in Rye, and it opens the floodgates for other businesses to follow suit. Does our town council not have an opinion on this? They’ve been silent on the issue.
Should I receive an update from RDC on whether this planning application is going to be discussed by its planning committee, I will add a note in the comments section of this article. Alternatively, RDC councillors may themselves wish to clarify the situation.
No reason for installing the screens was given by the applicant in his planning application.
I would be interested to read other local people’s opinions on this history-making planning development.
Image Credits: Nick Forman .
I’d draw readers’ attention to the very interesting Comments section under the earlier Rye News article titled ‘Council to rule on controversial screens’. It’s been confirmed that this decision will apply for five years. Five years of complaints from Rye people, more like. Mr Ockenden of Quest Cottages (UK Getaways Group) made a comment here without revealing he was the planning applicant, which seems a bit strange. As far as I can see, the argument centres on whether the bright electronic screens help Rye economically, or whether they irritate and distract drivers and passers-by (endangering road users), and whether they have a negative impact on Rye’s historic character and heritage, especially in a conservation area. For what it’s worth, I’m in the latter camp. My feeling is that the only people to benefit financially will be Quest Cottages, while thousands of drivers entering Rye will receive the impression that Rye is an offshoot of Piccadilly Circus rather than a historic town. The key consideration is what impact these screens have on Rye’s unique character and identity — and I’d argue it’s overwhelmingly negative. The other main issue is the precedent set by these screens. Rye residents and visitors face the future prospect of electronic advertising in many other parts of town. I predict that RDC will rue the day it made this unfortunate planning decision in a bid to benefit a commercial applicant at the expense of the majority of Rye people who are fed up with being exposed to advertising all the livelong day.
Oh the hue and cry on the digital boards at Skinners roundabout, but let’s just look around us,just along the road unsightly wheely bins adorning the terrace houses in a conservation area, all around the town from pavilions to railings hangs advertising signs,and also gaudy lights,which may be fine at Christmas in conservation areas,but not all the year around.nowonder RDC have allowed this, when others are seemingly allowed to do as they wish.
I think a lot of Rye people will have more important things to worry about than a few signs, why is it that every time someone tries to do something enterprising in this town it meets a barrage of objections.
I’ve known Mr Ockenden for nearly 40 years, a local man giving jobs to local people.
Good effort Pete….
These screens will be a distraction to drivers approaching from New Road at a busy roundabout. Motorists’ discipline at Rye roundabouts is already poor and exacerbated by now virtually invisible road markings (as at the Kettle-of-Fish). Drivers approaching from the Rye Hill direction, even before the installation of the screens, were often confronted by cars turning left into Fishmarket Road from New Road cutting in front of those with priority from Rye Hill, apparently oblivious to the roundabout rule of giving way to vehicles approaching from the right. This does nothing to improve road safety at roundabouts.
Many drivers do not know the rules of roundabouts including signaling at the correct point. Giving way to traffic coming from the right is not a rule. Giving way to traffic on the roundabout is. If you are going to give way to traffic coming from the right the driver has to factor in the distance the other car is from the joining point. What is that distance? Your guess is as good as mine.
What of a load of alarmist and overly precious old nonsense. These signs are right opposite, or adjacent to, two eyesore car parks and a grotty old petrol station. If anything the signs might be an improvement. For all Rye’s charm we are living in the 21st century not the 18th. The scaremongering suggestion that all of Rye will suddenly be covered in electronic signage is pure fantasy. I think some people won’t be happy until we go back to the horse and cart and live in straw huts.
How do Electric signs stack up with Global Warming???
The conditions of the planning consent are already being ignored it seems.
Condition #12 states that “the digital sign shall not shall not display any moving, or apparently moving, images (including animation, flashing, scrolling three dimensional, intermittent or video elements)” – walking past this morning, two of the adverts had moving video or animations.
This condition is in place specifically to minimise distraction of road users.
Does anyone know who should we report this to?
Regarding the recent approval for our digital screens:
First and foremost, I’d like to clarify that I, Peter Ockenden, represent UKG Group, and not the Rother District Council (RDC). Our mission has always been to support local businesses, especially in challenging times, and we believe the introduction of these digital screens can be a pivotal tool in this endeavor.
It has come to our attention that some residents are concerned about the digital screens not aligning with the town’s traditional image. I genuinely appreciate this feedback; every perspective is essential in maintaining the unique charm of our community.
However, the planning permission was granted after careful consideration. The RDC recognized the potential of these screens to offer a new, dynamic way for businesses to advertise and potentially uplift their sales. It’s not merely about changing the town’s skyline but boosting its economic vitality.
We’ve been overwhelmed by the positive feedback from numerous local residents and businesses. This enthusiasm reaffirms our belief in the project’s potential. But, we also understand and respect the apprehensions of some. It’s never our intention to override such concerns, but rather, we hope to offer a holistic perspective.
To those with reservations, I invite you to our office at 84 Fishmarket Road. Let’s discuss, face-to-face, your concerns and the vision we have for these screens. We always appreciate an opportunity for a balanced conversation, and what better way to do it than over a warm cup of coffee?
If you wish to ensure our discussion is uninterrupted, I recommend emailing me directly at peter@ukg.group before your visit. This way, I can guarantee my presence and our chance for a productive chat.
Warm regards,
Peter Ockenden.
Thanks Larry for covering this issue fully, with detail, encouraging participation and holding accountability.
Graem Peters
Former chairman of a London planning Committee and former Rye resident.
Fix the roads and pot holes, that I feel is a much bigger issue to road safety . No wonder vehicle insurance keeps going up .the roads are unsafe to drive on . Road tax should look at their contract to the safety of roads tax paying customers are using .
In response to David’s question above, if anyone feels that the RDC’s conditions for planning consent are being breached by Quest Cottages’ screens, they can easily report it by doing the following:
Go to rother.gov.uk
Click on ‘Planning & Building Control’, then click on ‘Enforcement’ ‘Alleged Breaches of Planning Control’. Then click on ‘Planning Enforcement Complaints Form’ and fill in and send the e-form.
If you see these screens being operated between 8pm and 8am, operated at high luminance in the hours of darkness outside these times, or see that the adverts include moving/flashing images, animation, scrolling, 3D, intermittent or video elements, you can report it to the Council. Rules are meant to be obeyed, not ignored. What upsets a lot of people is that everyone driving into and out of Rye via this roundabout will have these adverts flashing at them 12 hours a day, when we never agreed to this intrusion. If any driver looks at them, it counts as a motorist being distracted, which represents a road hazard. Some companies think they can do whatever they wish, and no one will complain. Those days are over. The only reason anyone will be looking at these screens is to see if Quest is in breach of its planning conditions for them. Quest should be given a couple of days grace to get its act together, that’s only fair, but if the screens are still featuring moving videos and animations after Monday 14 August, the company should be reported. The planning conditions were imposed on 3 August so they can’t argue they haven’t had time.
I really think people are making a mountain out of a mole hill,we are not talking about Picadilly circus,this is a small roundabout, so many other breaches of planning in Rye,that these,quite conveniently overlook.
John, you’re right about other planning breaches in Rye. One wonders how the unsightly skeleton of the pine furniture warehouse has been allowed to remain for so long. Don’t know whether it counts as a planning breach, but it’s an eyesore. I understand Martello must start building their four flats on the site by 12 July next year. You’re wrong about the electronic screens on the roundabout, however. The issue with them is their high visibility — representing more of a distraction than information platform — and what they lead people to conclude about Rye’s character. For RDC planners to sanction this application is a watershed moment for Rye’s claim to be an historic town, as it gives the green light to other firms who want to do the same thing to make a few quid. The roundabout may be small, but the planning consequences are enormous. Some folks thought global warming was just a tiny bit inconvenient and not worth worrying about. Tell that to the people of Maui. I’m not equating the two issues with each other — simply making the point that larger outcomes can result from small beginnings.
That Rother District Council have made a decision to approve these distracting signs should surprise no one! They seem to be incapable of making any sensible decisions at the moment and appear to have no regard for popular local opinions on such matters. Take the £30 flat fee for the Camber Central Car Park which is proving disastrous for locals, visitors and businesses. Little regard for disabled people with varying forms of disability, seen or unseen, unable to access the beach now.
The Council is not listening to its electorate and hopefully will not be elected again (if people take the trouble to vote!).