July mayoral update

A slightly quieter fortnight since my last update.

The town hall hosted a presentation by consultants acting on behalf of East Sussex County Council on the Rother civil parking enforcement (CPE) review – which has started in October. The consultants summarised the results of their survey into on and off street parking in Rye. There were no great surprises – they found there to be an improved turnover of parked vehicles in the town centre following the introduction of CPE and that Gibbet Marsh is under-utlilised. Who would have guessed?! They found that there is a reasonable turnover of parked vehicles in Military Road.

Those attending highlighted the fact that it is the volume of cars being parked along Military Road that is particularly pressing issue, creating a pinch point which makes it difficult for larger vehicles to use the road. The county council is well-disposed towards extending the Rye CPE zone to include Military Road and North Salts but wishes to consult with the residents who would be affected before making a final recommendation.

I had the great pleasure of working with Isabel Ryan on repairing the war memorial. Her grandfather, Reginald Blomfield, designed and built the monument just over 100 years ago, and it was a privilege to work with her and all her artistic knowledge to make this repair.

I have also had a meeting with other Cinque Port mayors via Zoom this week. You may remember that Rye withheld its subs to the confederation because we felt it needed to do more for the townsfolk of each port. I am very pleased to report that under the current speaker, the mayor of Hythe, we have now formed two groups: the first a development task and finish group will look strategically at how the Cinque Ports can serve their towns fully, and will report back in September; the other is a promotional group to set up the best ways to communicate how we can let people know what goes on in the towns, visitor attractions, and so forth to encourage footfall across the Cinque Ports. Both Councillor Gilbert and I will sit on these and help to contribute.

We have had another Festival of the Sea committee meeting, kindly hosted by the Mermaid Inn, and we are looking for more entries for the raft race and tug of war. There will be stalls, entertainment from local musicians, contributions from the sea cadets, and children’s activities (including Pugwash tales with Isabel and the town crier). Sunday 11th September on the Salts from 11am to 4pm: ryefestivaloftehsea.co.uk

And for fun? I rang the bells for the first time in Playden for a wedding on Saturday, and have enjoyed singing shanties at the wonderful Waterworks and at Charles Palmer Vineyards.

Image Credits: Rye News Library .