The residents of Rye Harbour were up in arms both on the morning of Monday, March 25 and during the day when they tried to leave their homes to get to work or head to Rye with children. The sign at the top of the road as you enter off the Winchelsea Road says very clearly: ROAD CLOSED; but it was obvious that some people felt that the sign did not apply to them.
They wanted to walk their dogs and they would endeavour to get through. The chaos that followed was insane. Some residents took thirty minutes to get home because of cars inconsiderately parked on the verge, on the pavement and taking up half the road as the photographs show: no-one could come or go. The cars that forced their way down to Rastrum Wharf found that they could go no further and used the entrance to turn round but they could not head back up the Harbour Road because everyone was coming down and gridlock ensued.
One local resident watched a large 4×4 pull up near the wharf, remove the cones which were there to prevent parking and then proceeded to park half on the verge and half on the road as it was the nearest place to the harbour and then they got out with their dogs and marched off.
The lifeboat operations manager, (LOM) of Rye Harbour lifeboat station said, “It is imperative that if we get a shout our crews can head to the station and not be held up in a thirty-minute queue. This potentially puts lives at risk and, of course, applies to all the emergency services who may need access to the harbour. All we ask for is some common sense: if the road is closed then abide by the signage and keep us all safe.”
On Tuesday the residents reported that the craziness had calmed down considerably but there was still illegal and selfish parking.
Image Credits: Kt bruce .