Rye’s public toilets will stay open this winter in spite of uncertainty over plans to turn part of three of the buildings into coffee shops and a cycle hub. Rye Town Council made the commitment to set aside money to fund their upkeep until March next year, no matter what Rother District Council, who own and run the toilets, decides to do.
The plan to part convert the Strand, Gun Garden, and Lucknow Place toilets was announced last winter with the new leaseholders due to take responsibility for the buildings this autumn. The meeting at the town hall on Monday October 13 heard those plans may not now be in place until September 2026 leading to fears RDC may close them – as they did two years ago.
“There is nothing clear on how Rother’s proposals are going to work,” said Cllr Cheryl Creaser. “Like every local authority they are making a grab for all the cash they can, but keeping toilets in Rye is essential.”
Rye Town Council also agreed to monitor the performance of the cleaning contractors after a question from the public. “The toilets at Rye Harbour are spotless but the station toilets are appalling,” said Heidi Foster. The Rye Harbour toilets are run by Icklesham Parish Council.
Earlier in the meeting, East Sussex County Council leader Keith Glazier gave an emotional update on his visit to Peacehaven Mosque after the recent arson attack. Four people have been arrested.
“People were frightened and upset,” he told Rye councillors. “If you could have been the terror on their faces – and I use that word deliberately – you would know something was very wrong. There is plenty of room for everyone in this country and everyone should be treated with respect. I was very moved.”
The town hall meeting was the first for new councillor Dena Smith Ellis. She was welcomed to the council by Mayor Andy Stuart who also praised the team behind last weekend’s National Town Criers contest. “It was a great show with a big turnout including the public who bellowed away when they had a go.”
Monday’s meeting also heard 400 people had already received their Covid jab at the relaunched Rye Vaccination Centre. Anthony Kimber explained the coming sessions on Saturdays were fully booked, though walk-ups were being accepted.
Later, during the meeting of the Planning and Townscape committee, Colonel Kimber explained the background behind the sale of the playing fields at Tilling Green. The committee agreed to a discussion at the full council on whether RTC should put a bid in for the land in the hope of using it for social housing. He confirmed a plan for social housing on near Rye Cricket Club was also being explored.
The meeting also heard proposals were coming forward to repair the clock on the Landgate.
Image Credits: James Stewart .
Perhaps Rother coul send contractors back to the Station car park toilets and get them to raise the toilet dispensers. Currently they are seat level and allow no leg room. One in the mens has already broken off the partion the othervtwo are hanging on by one screw only. Who passed yhis failure after inspection. I wish I could post the photo here
Only the disabled lavatory was open this morning, and unlockable! Can some kind handyman sort this out please? In complete contrast, the toilets just down from the station in Hastings are newly refurbished and immaculate – why can’t we have similar in Rye?
I wonder if we need a task force under Rye Council to look at ways and means. There are many good ideas and comments but it seems nowhere and no-one to draw them together
If Rye Council subscribed to this idea we could look at what suits our town rather than waiting for Rother to manifest further lack of interest. Even looking through these discussions in Rye News we are covering many topics e.g.
cleaning- maintenance – donations- volunteering-
fundraising – design – opening times.
Why not pull these together in a form that might become a Rye reality?
Isn’t Rye council the task force?
On the toilets, Station Approach toilets were refurbished after vandalism and then needed additional work on electrics. As of Saturday morning when I walked past they were open. I absolutely agree that the toilets in general are in a sorry state mainly due to vandalism and perhaps we could do better if we managed them locally. A couple of months ago I convened a group of stakeholders to look into exactly this and several of us have met to explore ways and means of securing the toilets for the town, it’s an ongoing project involving town Cllrs, Chamber of Commerce and others.
Toilets across Rother seem to have been the target of extreme vandalism including Station Approach and to that end Police have been patrolling more frequently focussing on times when the vandalism appears to have been happening between 7am and 9am. Incidentally, at my request Police also increased patrols around Halloween and were evident around Rye especially Ferry Rd in response to concerns about ASB.
Returning to the loos, if we can do something to gain more control we should but there are no simple solutions and whatever the outcome is will need to raise capital as well as revenue. Roy I’ll be in touch about the group, I know you already do so much around the town maybe you and Sal fancy another project!?