At its Cabinet meeting on Monday November 4, Rother District Council (RDC) agreed not to dispose of the old putting green area of the Salts on a 25 year lease.
The surprise decision means the wild flower meadow proposed by Rye Amenity CIC will not now go ahead.
RDC was concerned that Rye Town Council had not responded to the consultation “nor been specifically consulted and the wishes of the local residents for this piece of land was were unknown.” The Cabinet also felt that the Salts is not the correct location for a wild flower meadow and that the land could be put to better community use.
The meeting heard that four letters of objection had been received which contained the objections of: unsightly; weed control; long-term maintenance; lack of consultation; lease details; public access, and setting precedent for future disposals.
Image Credits: Rye News library .
Common sense has prevailed with Rother district councils decision to reject the wild flower meadow on the salts, The cabinet say the old town salts could be better use, yes Rother please give something back to the town of Rye,like a nice park on this land,that over the years has become just a dogs toilet, You have egerton park,Rye has nothing on that scale,but its ideal for a small park, for locals and visitors to enjoy.
How about identifying some areas of the tightly mown grass on that site that are little used and cut them just once or twice a year and see what flowers come up and then introduce suitable wild flowers. It could be done at almost zero cost – I can supply local seed. Corners, strips next to fences or along the banks. Lets do something and demonstrate how simple wildlife improvements can be… and what the problems might be.
I too am relieved that plans for a wildflower meadow on the Salts has been rejected by Rother. In my opinion, it would have become an excuse for an area to quickly become a messy site. Flower meadows are wonderful, but they need ‘management’ and I imagine it would have been difficult to obtain all the input necessary.
How about planting lots of trees, putting some benches and making it a pleasant place to meet and enjoy the company of friends and visitors. (all very eco)
Back in the day it was a football pitch with changing rooms where Rye played.
How one must agree with Tony Edwards, many of us played football on the old town Salts, if not for Rye but for one of several pub teams that played on their on a sunday morning,so many other memories on their,from pop concerts to jousting,and so many other activities that has graced the Salts, and its sad to see its laid dormant for so many years,when it was a hub of activity, for this town, i sincerely hope that it can become a small park,perphaps with a bandstand in the centre, surely with the help of Rye town council, and Rother, and other funding this could be achieved, something for all to enjoy,like most other towns.
A band stand, what a great idea, it doesn’t have to be jazz or rock which seems to be Rye favourites.
There are some great brass bands, military bands etc out there that tour during the summer months and always pull in the crowds.
Rye doesn’t have a park, perhaps some of the money spent by Rother on The park in Bexhill-on-Sea could be steered this way.
Rye is a bit behind the times… there is barely a public park in UK that does not have a wildflower or long grass meadow, including London’s Royal Parks and Hastings’ play parks. They look spectacular and support biodiversity as well as public enjoyment.
‘Rye is a bit behind the times’ – isn’t that the reason most people like it so much? No doubt if we had a large public park here there would be scope for wildflower/ long grass meadows, but we haven’t.