Earlier in June Rye News asked the candidates from the main five parties to tell us their priorities for Rye. Here’s what Sally-Ann Hart, the Conservative candidate in Hastings and Rye, sent us.
In 2019, I was elected as the MP for the place I have called home for nearly 30 years. This is one of the proudest moments of my life, and I have thrown myself into addressing the challenges and exploiting the opportunities we have here in Hastings and Rye. After all, this is my family’s home; it is our community, and I want the best for it.
Locally, I served as a magistrate, school governor and district councillor. During this time, I developed a strong desire to help improve and enhance everyone’s lives while fighting for social justice, particularly for the most vulnerable: children, young adults, and families. I have worked my socks off to do this, standing up and fighting against those holding us back – while securing the vital investments of over £84m needed to level up as a constituency.
I helped deliver three Family Hubs with outreach services to Rye and surrounding villages, investment into youth services and increased funding for our schools. I’m still standing up to Southern Water to ensure they meet their legal duties to deliver clean, reliable water services, and I secured a commitment from Southern Water to invest tens of millions in our local infrastructure to reduce sewage discharges, improve water quality and prevent water outages.
I secured an additional £4 million from the government to tackle our horrendous potholes and improve road conditions across Hastings and Rye in 2023-24. I have also secured an additional minimum of £52.4 million to invest in potholes across the county over the next decade from the cancellation of HS2.
I secured relief from business rates and an uplift in the VAT threshold for our Rye retail, tourism, and hospitality businesses. I also successfully secured government action on AirBnBs and short-term holiday lets to balance tourism, address housing availability, and protect our local community. I am delighted that my lobbying for the Rother District Council secured improvements to The Fair Salts children’s playground, especially for children with disabilities, and we successfully campaigned against the £30 parking scheme in Camber.
But my personal mission is not finished. I’m still holding Southern Water accountable, fighting for a fairer funding formula for our schools, and pushing for improvements on our roads and local transport services for all of us.
With a proven track record of hard work and delivery, please give me the chance to finish the job and continue this fight.
Image Credits: Sally-Ann Hart .