There have been positive developments over Christmas at the Ferry Road site in Rye after months of fly-tipping. The entrance has been secured and new hoardings have been erected to prevent further waste, which has included asbestos, being dumped at the former Thomas Peacocke school site.
After visiting the site in early December, the community protection officer from the environmental and health services department at Rother Council wrote to developers Plutus (Rye) Ltd giving them seven days to secure the site. After a further inspection visit, and with the site still not deemed adequately secured or cleared, the company was issued with a community protection warning requiring them to secure the land.
Just before Christmas skips appeared and the site cleared, with the exception of the asbestos which is due to be collected by a specialist company in mid-January. The hoarding at the entrance has also been replaced and painted, and the gates blocked by further wooden hoardings.
Meanwhile, the long delayed housing development on the site faced a further setback after the Environment Agency maintained its objection to the proposals on safety grounds in a letter to planners last week.
In its letter to Rother District Council’s planning department on January 2 the Environment Agency (EA) says planning permission for the proposed housing development should be refused. “We maintain our objection…as there is insufficient evidence to support that the proposed development will be safe.”
The EA says it has analysed a flood risk assessment put forward by consultants working for developers Plutus (Rye) Ltd. The letter raises concerns the current plans could lead to flooding in Rye. “The proposal in its current form will result in a loss of flood storage, it is highly likely to increase flood risk elsewhere…As previously stated in our objection on the 8th March 2024, failure of Tillingham Sluice under relatively minor tidal return periods could also result in flooding to the site, so it is possible the proposal would increase flood risk elsewhere under relatively minor flood events under present day scenarios.”
You can read the full letter here.
In December 2023 Plutus (Rye) Ltd submitted amended plans for 88 residential properties explaining affordable housing was no longer financially viable. In June last year an independent report concluded the developers were wrong not to include social housing in their updated planning application.
Image Credits: Juliet Duff , Rye News reporter .
I seem to remember the sports/playing field at the Ferry Road school (the primary school in 1960’s) adjoined the sports field of what was at the time, the Grammar school. A little later when the Grammar school became the comprehensive Thomas Peacock school, there was a footpath between the two. Wouldn’t it be a good use of that area to insert a “Safe route to/from School” footpath & cycle route?
It would give children the opportunity to use it instead of taking the risky route via the railway lines, it would be more logical than walking the circuitous route via the railway station etc, and perhaps add a few trees, park benches, skate park, snack kiosk, whatever, and Rye residents could regain use of a little piece of their town. Just a thought.
This footpath was always used by pupils as sometimes lessons were occasionally on the other site.
Council missed a trick when selling off the School,in hindsight they may have wished they had used the area for a large car park (£2.50 all day ) and a safe route to the schools as well.They would have raised a fortune .as site has been empty for many years.
Stop them in one place, it just moves the problem elsewhere. Now the fly-tippers are dumping their rubbish in the car park at Jury’s Gap and along Pet Level.
How much longer is this sad saga of the ferry road school site is going to rumble on,in 2012 their were serious concerns from Rye town Council for Sainsbury’s and Tesco to include damage to the entrance to this site to be improved, over 12 years later and still the blight of this site continues, who actually owns it now, as it must be worth millions ,as a site designated for housing,in the neighbourhood plan.