East Sussex County Council (ESCC) leader and local ESCC councillor Keith Glazier responds to last week’s story on “High Street to close”.
“Following the article in the Rye News I thought it worthwhile to respond to the issues raised. Firstly in relation to the proposed closure of the High Street we responded to the announcement by the Department for Transport (DfT) to put forward proposals that support social distancing, amongst others, to keep people safe.
“We responded to this with the proposal for Rye. I should stress we had limited time to put these proposals forward and they were undertaken after discussion with Rother District Council. The proposal will require a temporary traffic regulation order upon which we consult. If the majority of people object to this then it is likely it won’t be taken forward. I should also add we have not yet heard from the DfT on whether they accept our bids.
“The second point in relation to Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) is disappointing. We consulted widely on these proposals and where possible we took account of what people had to say in our final submission to the DfT. I should again add that we did this with the support of Rother District Council.
“It is clear that Rye has suffered from an unsatisfactory parking arrangement leading to conflict and unsafe parking. The CPE scheme will allow enforcement and create a turnover of spaces in the very place it’s needed, our High Street. We have run parking schemes for many years in Lewes District, Eastbourne and Hastings where there is support for parking controls because they help support safe parking and create opportunity for shoppers to support local traders”.
Image Credits: Rye News library .
N.B.
Yes, this scheme was supported by the then Rother Conservative majority Council, who as it happened had a Leader who was also a County Councillor.
When electioneering it was clear that the public had issues, such as those expressed now, e.g. shops loosing custom, as well as visitors having to pay for parking which in the past was specific to car parks.
Keith Glazier has carefully avoided commenting on the issue of half an hour of free parking which is available elsewhere in East Sussex but not in the proposed Rye regulations. This is despite people and traders in Rye asking why this is the case and pleading for it to be included.