Rye Town Council has agreed to share its concerns about proposals for new homes off New Road with planning officers. Fears about flooding, access, traffic and the lack of affordable or social housing were raised at the council’s meeting on Monday 20 July.
Martello Developments has submitted proposals to Rother District Council planners for 55 homes and commercial premises on the site of the Freda Gardham School and swimming pool, the current home for the Rye Creative Centre.
Anthony Kimber from the Rye Neighbourhood Plan updated councillors on the proposals. “The footprint of the development is larger than in the Plan going from 1.6 to 1.8 hectares. The proposal also has more homes on the site. A report from the developers says affordable housing is not viable. There is a 700-page flood plan for the development but is it adequate given the complicated pumping system? Plus it’s a busy road and the developers are proposing two entrances. There are no plans for traffic lights or yellow boxes.”
Councillors were united in their worries about the development.
“We should be heard,” said Councillor Boyd. “There’s no affordable housing and it encroaches onto the middle field. It is far from satisfactory.”
Concerns were also raised about the future of the artists at Rye Creative Centre. The meeting heard plans were still thought to be going ahead for studio space for the artists on Rye Harbour Road.
You can read the full application here.
Image Credits: Martello Developments .
Once again the old chestnut raises it’s ugly head, ( flooding) This development has been held up for years, the excuse the Eastern Bank of the rother had to be raised first,and as soon as it is they are still going on about flooding,you really couldnt make it,with this same excuse, talking to a resident who has lived on new road for 60 years and he states the area has never flooded, We in Rye are probably the luckiest regarding floods which have decimated some towns in England,it’s time this tired excuse stopped,because it never stopped other areas of Rye being given the all clear, like Western barn, and Rock Channel
I have lived in this area for 50years and have walked my dogs on the fields around the area under discussion and many a time I have had to modify my walk because of marshy fields or an excess of surface water. This area is built on reclaimed or marsh land so flooding is a problem but not as a flood plain, it seeps up through the ground unseen but still a nuisance fortunately the paths and roads stop this seep. Most of the people who went to school there know that at certain times they had to stay on the playground and not go on the grass, so it is not an old chestnut but fact.
Ps. I forgot to add the work on the bank is to prevent over topping and create a salt marsh.
Of course there isn’t affordable housing, that was never the intention by the developers it was just a smoke screen. I put together a very careful scheme two years ago which was presented to the RTC, this provided for both affordable & social housing plus some open market. There were two ideas, one to retain the existing building to be refurbished as an art/cultural centre and another to replace it with a purpose built building for this purpose.
Like the toilets, nobody was interested and as soon as I involved the council to form a Community Land Trust (CLT!), they all withdrew and ran for cover.
Again if anyone is interested in doing something about this travesty, let me know.
A bit of surface water here and there after a period of heavy rain, but isn’t it odd? Kings Avenue in the past seventy plus years I have frequented it, has never flooded?
Not in favour.
Buiding 55 luxury houses plus commercial premises and not to include any social housing on the old freda Gardham school site is another crazy project adding more problems to this very busy road.
I have lived on New road for 45 years and the amount of speeding traffic has increased at least 10 fold the installing of new speed signs on this stretch of the A259 road just does not work, before anybody thinks about building two new (maybe) commercial entrances for this project they first need to sort out the A259 access points first.
Maybe in there project plans they could include a pedestrian crossing?
I have also noticed there are more speed watch camera volunteers popping up on this section of road but for what reason because after they leave everything speeds up again.
No one will deny that East of the Rother is on reclaimed marsh land, and the residents of King’s Avenue must be thankful that the council allowed the development of social housing to be built on, One agrees with the concerns about road safety on this road, but what has the council done about it over the years. Sadly their silence has been deafening, and when this development takes place Rother District Council should insist a zebra crossing is included in the plans. My only concern is taking some of the school playing field, which Rye town and Rye bay play on, we have lost football on our main recreation ground the Salts where football was played for over 60 years, and now it lays dormant for 6 months of the year, If the developers cannot build any affordable houses at least give one of their vacant fields on Rye harbour road, so football remains in this town for generations to come
The land needs to be saved for one of Andy Burnham’s new social housing projects (used to be called council housing): affordable housing has always been a red – herring when houses are costed at £300,000 plus! (How can a family on minimum wage afford that). Hopefully this greed stream for developers is in its final phase and the country can build social housing for rent that is desperately needed.
Does Rye or indeed any other locality in the area need more luxury housing?
Surely what Rye really needs is proper council housing for those born and brought up in the town and now having to move away to find suitable accommodation. These sons and daughters of Rye people are the future of the town, not affluent people who fancy moving to the town on a whim or a prerogative.
Don’t forget the Rye families – ‘We wunt be druv’
Toilets at Rye station locked shut again, 10:35am 01/08/26 . Inc the accessible WC.
Good advert for tourists arriving by train.
No signage, explaining problem or direction to other WCs . Why?