Housing association Amicus Horizon, together with Rye Partnership, are set to unveil their latest plans to build new homes and a brand new community centre at Tilling Green. But there has apparently been absolutely no consultation with local residents in the eight weeks since Amicus officials spoke to the Town Council’s Public Services Committee, and former Town Councillor Mary Smith’s encouragement to both organisations to set up an open public meeting as soon as possible seems to have been ignored. However residents will have three hours to comment in ten days time, on July 6.
Rye Partnership officers did give a report on current activities at a meeting of their members this week, saying they hoped the community centre would be out of action for the shortest possible time. Also a meeting has been called of the centre’s “hirers”, who book rooms for meetings and activities, for Friday morning – though at least one hirer had still not received an official invitation.
A previous “hirers” meeting on April 22 was addressed by Ian Ross, the Partnership’s lead on the Tilling Green project, who said then that he did not know what Amicus’ plans were and, at the Public Services meeting five days later, local County Councillor Keith Glazier, representing Rye Partnership in Ross’ absence, said he did not know that Amicus planned a single storey community centre. A previous plan which had been circulated showed a building with two floors. He said he was “quite shocked” at the news as “no-one has shared that with us yet”.
Lots of questions were asked at the packed meeting of the Public Services Committee, and Amicus said there would be consultation. So far however there has been none – either with the centre’s “hirers”, or community users, who protested on both April 22 and 27 about the prospect of the centre being closed for a period of time (possibly between a year and 18 months), while a replacement, which did not seem adequate anyway, was built. Amicus official Lisa Shead had told the meeting that “the understanding was that a new centre would be built before the old one was demolished…. but the reality is that there is going to be a window where there isn’t going to be a community centre”.
Glazier said that the Partnership and Amicus would work together to ensure that the provision for both centre activities and storage of equipment could be made available elsewhere in the town. But one of the possible alternatives, the St Mary’s Centre next to the Kino cinema, knew nothing about this possible need at a recent parish meeting.
Neither has there been any consultation with the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group (RNPSG) , who were promised a meeting as it is working on strategies for Rye’s long term development and is concerned about community facilities getting less as the housing and population grows. Shead had said at the public meeting that she hoped both the RNPSG could become formally involved in the process together with the Tilling Green Residents Association (TGRA). But neither Anthony Kimber of the RNPSG or Dan Lake of TGRA have been approached since the April 27 meeting.
Amicus say the proposal includes a new community centre and a cul-de-sac style development with 32 homes for rent, shared ownership and open market sale, and the community will be able to see the proposals and give their feedback at a public consultation on Monday July 6, between 3pm and 6pm, in the Tilling Green Community Centre’s main hall. But the “feedback and consultation”, says Amicus, amounts to speaking “to representatives from Amicus Horizon and Rye Partnership, and dropping their [residents] comments into a suggestion box” despite the call eight weeks ago for an open public meeting.
Amicus say the new community centre will “be a modern structure more cost-efficient to run, yet still accommodate all existing users and welcome potential new groups to the centre, and it would provide a flexible space and a lounge style area, with soft furnishings, where exhibitions could potentially be held.” One of the biggest current users is a slimming group, and others include the local residents association, a camera group, classes on computer use, advice services, the Quakers, children’s groups, and the local Labour party. Some require meeting or exercise spaces of various sizes and others need storage space as well.
Lenka Muir, Project Manager at Amicus Horizon, said: “The local community is key to the success of our plans for the development. We’re looking forward to sharing our plans. We’d like to invite local people to come along to the public consultation and give us their feedback. We’re keen to work closely with the local community to deliver a scheme which is sensitive to its surroundings. Amicus Horizon is well established in the area and wants to continue to build on these strong relationships.”
The feedback from the public consultation and any amendments to the plans will be displayed at the Tilling Green Community Centre foyer between August 3-28 only four weeks after the “consultation” , although no consultations or discussions have taken place with either hirers, users or other interested parties in the past eight weeks and there has been no open public meeting as called for.