Mid-week the weather forecasts for this Friday, July 31, and Saturday, August 1, were for temperatures of 30 degrees in the Rye area on Friday, dropping to 24 degrees on Saturday, which most would regard as warm days.
And as Rye News recently reported, our Member of Parliament Sally-Ann Hart said “plans for warm days at Camber need to mirror those put in place for large crowd events” and there could be a crowd on Camber Sands this Friday and Saturday.
And Saturday, while it may be somewhat cooler, could see a steep increase in day trippers as many will not be at work.
Following her statement she met with a couple of Camber residents and a parish councillor and a Rother district councillor as a result of the petition, organised by Jen Sinclair, in June to East Sussex County Council, Rother District Council and Sussex Police after severe disruption on Wednesday, June 24 in the Camber area.
Following that meeting, a Camber action group is being set up to ensure progress is made.
In June there had been growing concerns, which have continued, not just about parking and traffic issues, but also about social misbehaviour, as the lavatories had been closed during lockdown and there was no police presence in Camber – as there is usually during the peak holiday season.
Also more people were off work back in June and were eager to escape the lockdown. However, numbers now are growing daily in Camber with cars arriving at the caravan and camping parks so day trippers on Friday and Saturday may not find too much spare space.
Image Credits: Nick Forman .
Camber filled up quickly yesterday (Thursday) and motorists were cruising the roads looking for anywhere to park – and they did (frequently) on verges, double yellow lines, and outside people’s homes – despite traffic cones blocking off one road because of a “covid incident”, and posters in another group of roads saying the police were removing any cars without locally registered number plates because of covid restrictions.
The police office in the central car park was shut (as it was earlier in the week) when I was there, but a police car was parked on the roadside near Pontins. Traffic however was not (yet) at a total halt as I caught a bus to Camber, and got a bus back. But today (Friday) I’ll walk as yesterday’s mid-morning bus to Camber had quite a queue waiting for it, and Pontins’ loudspeakers were hard at work when I arrived !.
Luckily yesterday, today and tomorrow the low tide is around the middle of the day so the thousands had, and have, room to spread out. However yesterday’s twitters and Facebook messages from various authorities, and our MP, seemed to have little impact, and today may see traffic grind to a halt.
Yesterday, however, the main delay was to traffic coming in to Rye from Ashford on the A259 with a queue stretching back over the river bridge.
Left the golf course at 9-55 traffic was building up from the top of east Guildford turning bumper to bumper all the way to camber.nothing has change for years and years and I don’t believe nothing will
Vic
Totally agree something should be done whether it’s park and ride, reinstate the old tram, or something else. What readers should not get too tied up is the reference to “locally registered number plates”. Cars are sold up and down the country and are often moved from one area to another. Unless the car is brand new and displays a “G” prefix relating to either Kent or Brighton a car could be displaying any prefix and still be owned by a local resident.
And by 10.30 am today (July 31) the tailback was nearly at Salts Farm and about to spill over into the A259 – with possible consequences in both directions. The 102 bus was trapped in this tailback and late running into Camber, but the bus company seemed to have anticipated that and a “relief” bus turned up to carry a full load into Rye – and another “relief” bus was lurking in the tailback.
The central park, and its overflow, were already full and closed before 10am with cars being re-directed from a barrier by the Rye Bar bar and the western car park looked close to closing – and had a long queue while the few remaining free spaces were allocated.
And, because of the tailback on the Camber Road, traffic was building up into Camber from Lydd and there were many tailbacks within Camber itself – not helped by parked cars reducing the road to a single lane in various places.
People had started arriving on the beach early with around 200 there by 7.30 a.m as the tide went slowly out. Lifeguards and the beach patrol were in place around 9 and two policemen arrived around 10 – by which time social distancing had rapidly decreased as the numbers poured in and the sea only went slowly out.
Well! That went down well! Had to walk in the road. Cars parked on pavements. Not one police offive to be seen. So glad the big meeting earlier this month sorted all the problems! Not
Once again as we have seen year after year, talk,talk, and talk about Camber and do nothing about it, you cannot stop people visiting this pleasant resort, what you can do is stop the bull, and manage the problem properly, thanks to the money grabbing Rother district council, and the invisible Rother police force, this fiasco will run and run, and the main losers, will be all of us, who live in the vicinity.
Wild camping is becoming more and more of a problem in the Camber dunes. Two tents and a fire spotted in the golf course side of the dunes this morning and individuals breaking down fences to fuel the fire. Apparently no English spoken when challenged.
There appears to be absolutely no thought or care for the locals or for the environment they are visiting.
Can we please get some bigger and better signeage put up (with translations) with more explanation regarding how the area would be affected by a loss of the dunescape through wild fire. This is the main protection for the village and marsh from coastal flooding!
It would also help if there was some enforcement of the local bylaws especially during the peak season, but I guess as usual this is down to money or lack of.