Here’s a roundup of some of the other stories making the news in Rye this week.
Rye Town Council budget discussions
It’s the first meeting of Rye Town Council of the year on Monday January 29, including a debate on the council’s budget for 2024/25. Plans for Rye to take on responsibility for the town’s open spaces, allotments, public conveniences and Rye Leisure Centre from Rother District Council are still taking place, making budget planning difficult. As well as fixing the roof at Rye Heritage Centre and mending the brickwork and windows at the town hall, the reports for Monday’s meeting also include proposals to spend money on the skatepark, new gowns for Rye’s councillors and replacing the town crier’s uniform. If Monday’s meeting is not able to agree the budget, and the Rye precept for the council tax, an additional council meeting could be held on Monday February 5.
As well as the budget, there will be a discussion about Rye’s allotments and the council will also consider making grants to the Pett Level Independent Rescue Boat Association and Rye Football Club.
You can read the full agenda here, and the minutes from the last meeting which included a well-attended discussion on who should be mayor next here.
Council increases licensing fees
Taxi drivers, tattoo artists and kennel owners are among the local businesses in Rye that will see their licensing fees rise later in the year, writes Huw Oxburgh, Local Democracy Reporter. On Monday, January 15 Rother District Council’s licensing and general purposes committee agreed to move ahead with an inflationary increase in several of its licensing fees from April 1.
For the most part, the fees are set to increase in line with the consumer price index, but some will increase at a higher rate. For example, the cost of registering a new tattoo parlour – like the new Rope Walk Tattoo Lounge in Rye – will increase from £240 to £308. Some of the fees will not increase. Costs associated with Hackney Carriage or private hire car licences will remain at their 2023 rates. The cost of a dual licence will increase, however.
Other fees, such as those for an alcohol premises licence, are set nationally and will not be affected by the price increase. Councils can only set fees at a level where it recovers its administrative and compliance costs. They cannot aim to recover more than the costs incurred.
Harbour Roadworks
You thought the traffic lights on the Harbour Road meant work to fix the potholes had begun right? Wrong! They are in place just whilst work takes place on the Brede Sluice.
Repairs to the road to the harbour were cancelled in November. At the time East Sussex Highways said the original plan, which would have closed the road for a number of nights, was postponed because “larger scale work was required”.
The roadworks are now scheduled for March 25 to April 12.
Police recruitment
Sussex police have started a search for more special constables. They are looking for people who can volunteer at least 16 hours a month and say recruits will have the same uniform and powers as regular officers. A spokesperson for Sussex Police said: “Our ‘Specials’, come from all walks of life. Specials are men and women of all races and faiths. They’re teachers, taxi drivers, chefs, accountants and secretaries.”
More details here
Get in touch
If you see anything happening in and around Rye our email is info@ryenews.org.uk.
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Image Credits: James Stewart , KT Bruce , QuoteInspector.com CC , Chris Lawson , Natasha Robinson .
If there is to be an additional Council meeting to discuss next year’s budget it will be on 12 Feb (not 5 Feb)!
Ditch the fancy dress costumes!
And do not spend more money on new ones.
RTC – show that your serious and that you have joined the 21st century by wearing your own clothes.
Times are bad! Let’s sort it out?
I have to agree, there are too many other problems in Rye that will need to be included in the budget as already mentioned, so do we really need new gowns which will probably be expensive. No doubt our council tax will go up again, lets concentrate on putting money to more important things needed in Rye.
And tradition is not a good reason to spend the money on gowns.
Could the council perhaps lobby Rother to give some of the money back to Rye, money they collect from their car parks in Rye which then could help with the budget.
With regard to the gowns , it’s worth pointing out that the existing gowns, which are still worn at full Council meetings and for civic parades, are 101 years old! The date of manufacture – 1923 – is still sewn inside some of them. So as a once-a-century expense, it is not a huge outlay.
Not replacing them is not an option as protocol requires them to be worn on Civic occasions such as Cinque Ports Speakers Day, Remembrance Sunday, Mayor-making etc. All councils locally have gowns for such occasions, and Rye’s are starting to look very tatty in comparison to those of our neighbours.
Rye is a historic tourist town where a little bit of flim-flammery adds to the gaiety of nations. Not every purchase in life need be solely utilitarian and quotidien. And if these items end up being depreciated over a century or so then they’ll have been amongst our better buys.
Hopefully the expense for the new gowns will be on view on here.
There has been a huge amount of work being carried out at Customs House, 7 High Street (next door to los gringos) There is no planning permission for this listed building. Can Rye News investigate this?
There are a couple of current planning applications in respect of the Custom House –
Reference Location Proposal Status
RR/2023/2607/P 7 Customs House, Customs House Flat, High Street, TN31 7JE Change of use from residential studio/flat (C3) to Jazz club (sui generis) to host a new kitchen, store room and an external seating/dining/drinking area. A new extractor fan & duct will be positioned to the rear elevation. Undecided
RR/2023/2608/L 7 Customs House, Customs House Flat, High Street, Rye TN31 7JE A new extractor fan & duct to the rear elevation to facilitate the change use from residential studio/flat (C3) Jazz Club (Sui generis)
Full details and opportunity to comment on Rother’s website
I’m inclined to agree with some of the comments, tbh. This isn’t a dig at RTC at all, but could not the gowns be taken down to the menders in Rope Walk? Or just be mothballed until we can afford to replace them? Or, if they’re so imperative to civic protocol, let’s get some secondhand ones off Ebay! I’m fond of tradition and ceremony, but the dignity of institutions is never more important than the dignity of ordinary people, and I’m certain there are better uses for the money.
Guy. Yes, of course there’s always ‘a better use for the money’ if you only take a utilitarian view. But… just as I don’t believe we all live in sackcloth and ashes – i.e. not all our personal wealth goes to noble causes – there is room in the public realm for some expense other than utilitarian – else should a council never plant flowers in the park, put up a Christmas tree, restore a historic building? Not everything can or should be reduced to bread and butter.
The solution is obvious: the councillors should individually fund their own new robes for the benefit of the town and their successors in the role. This sort of thing is not unknown in organisations with a ceremonial aspect
Hi, Tim, I agree with the spirit of your comments wholeheartedly. The trouble is, ESCC has a £27.5m budget deficit and is drawing on £14m of reserves to break even, Rother has a £3.8m budget deficit, and the Town Council’s under financial pressure too… So, personally, I think we have to cut our coat (or gown) according to our cloth.
Hi All, as we no longer have an official seamstress, I have repaired a number of the of the robes. Unfortunately, the robes are showing signs of wear and age. Whilst it is my pleasure to use my skills to help, there is an issue with the age and fragility of these very aged robes. Hopefully, we can come to an equitable conclusion regarding our continued use of the robes, particularly in these challenging times. Perhaps there are Angels in our community who can help with this dilemma. I hope so.
MPs don’t wear robes in the House of Commons, our highest government chamber, and neither do RDC or ESCC councillors. My view is that the Mayor should wear his chain of office, but that Town Council members should not be required to wear gowns. The only exception to this should be the town crier, who should be provided with his uniform. These days, the crier’s role is partly ceremonial and partly tourist/visitor entertainment. It is a quaint anachronism in the 21st Century. While wishing no disrespect to the role, the position of town crier is often viewed as a figure of fun. It could be dispensed with, but is retained for historic reasons and to boost tourism — which is fair enough for a town like Rye, which depends on visitors.