Rye will have far fewer public toilets next year after Rother District Council (RDC) approved plans to lease the buildings commercially. The toilets on the Strand and in the Gun Garden will be partly turned into coffee shops, and on the Salts the Lucknow Place building will see the creation of a new cycle hub.
The council’s cabinet approved the decision on Monday, June 13, although much of the discussion was held in private because of commercial concerns. Each lease will include retaining a minimum level of toilets for public use, with businesses “making the facilities available to the public during the businesses’ opening hours”.
In 2024 RDC advertised most of the district’s public toilets for commercial use through agents Dyer & Hobbis, for an annual rent and a percentage of turnover. The toilets on Station Approach in Rye were not advertised.
The ambitious plans for the cycle hub were initially rejected by RDC, however Monday’s meeting agreed in principle to giving Rye Bay ebikes a 15-year lease on the toilets next to Rye Bowls Club. As well as offering advice on cycle routes, the company hopes to offer repairs and bikes for hire. Co-owner Martin Summers says he’s relieved the plans have been approved. “We kept tweaking the plans with no feedback, but I’m looking forward to getting started. There’s a lot of work to do as we’ll have to strip out much of the building, but we hope to be ready by next spring.” How much of the current building will be retained as public conveniences is still being discussed.
The proposal for the toilets in the Gun Garden will see half of the building turned in a coffee shop which will be open from March to October 10.00am – 6.00pm seven days a week. From November to February it will open Thursday to Sunday 10.00am – 4.00pm depending on the weather.
The Strand toilets will also be partly converted into a coffee shop, initially five days a week for 12 months a year including bank holidays, with the aim of building up to seven days a
week at some point.
The new leases are expected to begin in October this year to allow conversion work, possibly closing the toilets over winter.
The Strand and Gun Garden toilets have been repaired and maintained by Rye Town Council in recent years after RDC withdrew funding. Mayor Andy Stuart said the new plans would save RTC money. “Rye will have at least some public toilets with a guaranteed future, but the devil will be in the detail.” The council’s meeting on Monday will discuss a response to the commercial leases.
Sarah Broadbent, Vice Chair Rye & District Chamber of Commerce, said the plans made the best of a challenging situation. “Quite how workable the arrangements will be remains to be seen. Potential long-term solutions for the Station Approach loos are still to be determined and we are continuing to look at options. They remain under RDC’s operation but will need a new plan to take them forward once Rother ceases to exist – maybe sooner, if the funding situation changes. Businesses in town remain very concerned about the provision of loo facilities particularly during the high season and festivals.”
Christine Bayliss, cabinet member for economic development and regeneration at RDC, acknowledged there would be fewer public toilets in Rye and across the District. “There will be a reduction but these plans will deliver public toilets that are managed and cared for, with a long term future, and no cost to the tax payer. There are some interesting additional amenities and local jobs.”
She said RDC would make sure businesses kept to any agreed commitments. “I understand people are sceptical, but the leases will be very specific on opening times. Closing them will be a breach of the lease.”
In Winchelsea, discussions continue with Icklesham Parish Council after no bids were received for the toilets on Monks Walk in the town. At Winchelsea Beach, RDC has agreed to discuss a lease with a company that wants to build a sauna next to the toilets on Dogs Hill Road which will result in fewer parking places.
Elsewhere in Sussex, Chichester District Council has invested £200,000 in new public toilets and is committing to refurbish eight more, the BBC reports.
Cycling in Rye is also being highlighted this weekend with a Posh Jumble in support of local cycle routes. Loads of top quality clothes, bric-a-brac, & books. Rye Community Centre Conduit Hill Saturday June 21 10am-12.30pm.
Image Credits: Environment Agency , David Worwood , James Stewart , Peter Connock .
one would hope that when the renovations take place they do not all close at the same time,
Maybe the one on the salts not closed during Bonfire night .
Accessible toilets, open for most of the day and frequently emptied litter bins on every corner, are necessities in a civilised community.
Coffee and cycle repair shops are signs of desperation.
More and more tourist and less facilities to accommodate them, I don’t understand the logic behind the thinking.
You don’t need a lot of imagination to see where most people will relieve themselves, it’ll be like bonfire night when the gardens are fair game.
Yesterday, when Rye was heaving with people enjoying the weather, tourists arriving in their coaches made a bee line for the toilets at Station Approach and were overheard remarking on the appalling state of them. Most of the door locks were broken and no toilet paper in any of the cubicles and the floor awash. What a welcome for people that will be spending money at our local businesses! Embarrassed, I explained that we were lucky to have even these awful toilets. Can some funds be made available to pay a local handyman to repair or replace these locks and at least make this vile amenity useable?
I have reported this to Rother via the on-line reporting service – always the best way to deal with these problems. Ref: RIPC-724590601
Please let me know if the situation hasn’t improved within 48 hours.
cllr.andrew.mier@rother.gov.uk
Thanks for raising this.
Mr Mier, might I also draw your attention to the vast amount of litter around the market car park after the market yesterday. A gentleman from from the Rye u3a put on a fantastic Wild Flower Walk which was conducted around bottles, cans, food containers all blighting the area. This lovely town is rapidly becoming a tatty dump to which people will stop coming and businesses in turn will fail.
I believe the Market itself is in private hands. If streets nearby are not cleaned please report via the online system https://www.rother.gov.uk/reportit/
Andrew Mier – myself and other Rye Town Councillors as well as numerous members of the public AND visitors have been reporting on the revolting state of these toilets since at least the early 2000’s. They were as awful then as they are now. Despite almost daily complaints, RDC have never really come up with a suitable solution.
This should of course have read ‘since the early 2000’s.’ The issues with these toilets have been reported on for more than twenty years. Probably longer.
Hi Bernadine,
Yes, but you have to report each and every time there is a fault. That’s how life works. One fault is remedied and another occurs -which must itself be reported. I know you do, but as a Rother councillor I am constantly surprised at the number of people who complain to me about faults and failings, yet are resistant to reporting via the website. In many cases – lavatory cleaning, dustbins etc the website links directly to the contractor so prompt action can be taken.
Good toilets and facilities are absolutely vital in a town that depends on tourism for a major part of its’ revenues. If the visitors don’t come then the businesses will die, as has been seen in many other towns. And as it is the businesses, and the local authority (through receipt of business rates), that reap the benefits, then surely it is only fair that they also financially “adopt” these facilities as an essential expenditure, rather than looking for cheapskate compromised options?
I totally agree what M Dixon has said. Those toilets are a disgrace especially as it is a first impression arriving in Rye.
I hope we don’t have to wait till next year to see some improvements.
Toilet seats missing no soap dispenser no decent drying facility no toilet paper at times wet floors
No wonder people use it as necessary but don’t respect it
Just been to Lyme Regis public toilets are no better there
The smell in the Rye toilets is appalling. It’s quite annoying to think that a portion of the Council Tax that I pay, goes towards paying the company who “clean, maintain, and look after” them! What a joke.
Due to Rother cutbacks, Pett Level Parish Council now take care of the toilets at Pett Level, in order to keep them open. They are the nicest, cleanest, most cared for, public toilets, I have used for many years. They have a Donations box, so if you want to spend a penny, or even a £1 or more, towards their upkeep, please do.
Thank you. I will pass n your comment to those responsible.
The station toilets are also used by bus drivers who get a few minutes’ break at Rye. What an awful place to have to use as part of their working day. This is an important public facility, and it’s a disgrace that they are in the condition they are. I know the Rye Town Council has talked about the loos many times — is there really no solution?
We don’t need more coffee shops! Rye is a tourist town, tourists expect facilities & without those facilities the town will suffer. Locals also need public toilets if shopping or doing business in the town, especially if they have to wait for a bus, the present state of the station toilets is completely unacceptable.
Public toilets need to be put on a sustainable footing. There are virtually no toilets in busier locations in the UK (I except some non-tourist village scale communities) that are anything other than rank and disgusting. Realistically no local authorities have the funds to run them to an acceptable standard without charge. As a family on holiday on the continent half a lifetime ago we used to be shocked to be charged to use public WCs. But they were usually spotless, with soap and towels provided and run by a formidable dragon (‘madame pipi’) with the efficiency of a sergeant major. So options: close the toilets, keep them free and disgusting, manage them sustainably.
Perhaps it should be made obligatory for all new coffee shops, restaurants etc in Rye to provide public toilet facilities, not just for customer use. I believe this is the practice in.parts of Europe. I saw this working in Cumbria where the pub just asked for donations from non-customers which seemed fair enough. They were also very clean.
I have never heard of a more hair brained scheme to convert public toilets to coffee shops
Rye is a tourist orientated town and will lose a lot of business if this goes ahead.
And to think that we elected these councillors ourselves.
The Romans had public toilets over 2000 years ago, and it looks like we havn’t made any progress since then
Why do public toilets “need to be put on a sustainable footing”?
People already pay truly massive council taxes towards them! To an organisation which can’t even keep them clean. What “needs to be made efficient” is the organisation in charge of them.
Hear, hear. Although I am ‘relieved’ at the news of the Station Approach toilets to be rebuilt/refurbished, I fear that they will soon fall back into disrepair and a filthy state if they are not monitored and cleaned on a permanent, regular basis. And I definitely do not agree with the notion of anyone having to pay to use this service. As someone has previously mentioned, local residents are already paying, and visitors should not be penalised when they are coming to spend funds.
A good positive reply from Tim Pritchard. When I witness the ever growing number of coaches parking in the Station Car park and consider that some passengers may have travelled considerable distances – maybe in a coach without a toilet – and imagine their dissapointment at the toilet facilities,or lack of them, offered at Rye I feel considerable shame and dissapointment as a resident of this lovely town.
Have we all gone absolutely crazy?
Shops providing coffee or snacks are also suffering increased footfall from strangers wanting to use their toilet facilities as well.
Madness!
John Jessup
Tourists abusing the facilities in pubs which are meant for customers use is already a big problem and this nonsense is just going to encourage it.
We definitely do not need more coffee shops!
Surely the more coffee shops we have the greater the need for public lavatories!
I still don’t understand why we don’t pay to “spend a penny” as we used to? It could be 20p or even £1. Just enough to pay for maintaining clean public toilets in a decent state.