You may (or may not) be aware that the government is seeking to make changes to who delivers local government services at regional and local level.
Within the next couple of years, the district / borough councils and county council in East Sussex will be abolished and (probably) replaced with a unitary council for the area. Above this, there will be a new tier – a directly-elected mayor-led combined strategic authority (covering East and West Sussex, and Brighton and Hove), responsible for strategic planning, transport, economic development etc.
Parish and town councils (like Rye) will remain.
This re-organisation, the first since 1974 – when Rye Borough Council was abolished and Rother District Council and Rye Town Council were created – presents Rye Town Council with an opportunity to acquire some of Rother District Council’s numerous assets in Rye. These include areas like the Salts and the Gun Gardens (amongst others) as well as the Landgate; Rye’s litterbins and bus shelters; and its car parks.
It should be noted that it is likely that any Rother assets not transferred to Rye Town Council will be passed to the new East Sussex Unitary Council.
The town council believes that Rye’s assets can be better looked after – and services improved – at a local level. It is required to submit expressions of interest to Rother District and, as such, is seeking residents’ priorities.
There is unlikely to be any associated funding for the running costs and maintenance of these services. So, the town council is also asking how residents would feel about a potential increase in their Council Tax precept, to enable the town council to take on the provision of additional services. Currently Rye is charged a “special expense” by Rother for the maintenance of some of these assets, however it is expected that this would cease in the event Rye Town Council had the ownership of them.
Residents of the parish should click here to complete a short survey on their priorities and views on future funding. The deadline for responses is midnight on Sunday, September 14.
You can also contact Rye Town Council to request a paper copy of the survey: townhall@ryetowncouncil.gov.uk or 01797 223902
Image Credits: Nick Forman .
Please do all you can to support and strengthen Rye Town Council. With the upcoming reorganisation of local councils the role of town and parish councils is going to be crucial if there is to be any local influence on what happens in our towns and villages. With a distant mayor in Brighton responsible for East and West Sussex AND Brighton and Hove and maybe only three unitary authorities across the whole area what local voice will there be? Whatever we might think of Rother District Council at least there is a chance that local voices might be heard. Without it, we will be shouting in a vacuum.
We must ensure that our town and parish councils are strengthened and that means we all must engage with what they do and get involved.
The other thing that we need to remember is that in the previous round of making mayors and unitary authorities, mainly in the north, there was equalisation of council tax: ie the lowest were brought up to the level of the highest. Another positive feature of distancing decisions from residents.
The survey doesn’t take long to complete, and it’s well worth doing. Jessica makes a strong case for increasing local ownership of assets, which I fully support. I have often argued that at least one of Rye’s car parks should be devolved to the town council. It makes no sense for Rother to withhold all revenue-generating assets from being returned to local control.
On a different note, the shape of the future unitary council is still far from decided. Brighton and Hove, along with most Labour groups—including Rother’s—are advocating for a “Coastal Strip” unitary authority that would bring our Parliamentary constituency together with other East Sussex coastal towns. This proposal fits well within the government’s guidelines, and there is a strong case for it. By contrast, the “East Sussex Mk 2” model is far from a done deal