Rye’s Annual Town Meeting last week was an opportunity to both look back at the past year and look forward to what may develop, and there was a lot for Mayor Councillor Jonathan Breeds to report on.
His speech covered nearly 20 areas of activity and over the next three weeks Rye News will report what he said as a new financial year starts, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announces his budget, and the rates paid by every householder in Rye go up.
The money being spent by Rye Town Council increases by only a few pence per week per household within the overall rates bill, but it is money spent in the community and on the community, whether it is on grants to local organisations or on staffing the Heritage Centre down at Strand Quay, which informs and entertains the town’s many visitors – and the Mayor reports :
“It is all too easy to overlook the good things that are going on around us when the national media feeds us a diet of doom and gloom – and our own struggle to earn an honest crust often appears to be thwarted by all manner of sources of everyday frustrations and irritations.
So I am sure I speak for all us when I pay homage to the invaluable – and entirely positive – contribution our voluntary organisations make to the social, cultural and recreational life of the town.
Since we last assembled the Town Council has awarded grants to a number of these groups – either from its own funds, or Rother District Council’s New Events Fund – and those were :
£1,000 to Entertainment Workshops for laptops ; £700 for the Rye Ukulele Festival last year, and £8,090 for Christmas in Rye in December. £200 to Rye & District Dementia Action Alliance for awareness raising, £1,000 to Rye Cricket Club for improving the ventilation of the pavilion, and £2,500 to Rye Harbour Sailing Club for a new shower block.
£551 to ARRCC for holding afternoon dances for older people with disabilities or dementia, £900 to Rother Youth Group for six months’ running costs and £1,000 to Rye & District Street Pastors for running costs, equipment, uniforms and training, and £700 to Rye Wurlitzer Academy for two fundraising events.
Providing an affordable home
Last year my predecessor announced that the council was looking to purchase a two bedroom house to let to a younger Rye family at a discounted rent – and that we were about to launch a consultation.
An overwhelming majority of you who responded expressed their support for the proposal, which helped us to draw down a £210,000 loan from the Public Works Loan Board. We originally budgeted £230,000 towards the project. However a combination of rising prices and limited supply has forced us to increase this to £250,000 and to broaden our search criteria.
I am pleased to report that we are currently in the process of purchasing a suitable property in South Undercliff and are about to start work on firming up the eligibility criteria for prospective tenants.
The Town Council is keen, where practicable, to stem the loss of public spaces and community assets – a trend that could increase as Rother District Council continues to look for ways of generating revenue.
We have successfully prevented both the small amenity space next to Number 7 Wish Ward and the freehold of the Ferry Road Nursery from going to auction by submitting successful offers to Rother. The amenity space will therefore remain in public ownership and the Ferry Road Nursery will continue to have a local authority landlord.
In Pump Street, the Council has readily agreed to a request from Rye Conservation Society to work with it on the restoration of the pump housing.
Supporting business
The Council was delighted to see the recent formation of the Rye Area Local Business Forum and is especially grateful to Councillor Rebekah Gilbert for helping to facilitate it. The Council wishes the Forum every success and looks forward to a productive working relationship.
We were saddened, soon after last year’s Town Meeting, to lose our friend and colleague, John Izod. A true Rye character, John was omnipresent – and many of our voluntary organisations benefited from John’s support at some time or another.
And there is no doubt in my mind that Rye would be a much poorer place without stalwarts like John and others like him. John loved the Town and the Town loved John.
John’s seat on the Council is now occupied by Sam Barnes. On behalf of the Council I would like to thank all those who put themselves forward for the vacancy.
Heritage Centre changes
After seven years at the helm, at this end of this month our Heritage Centre Manager, Peter Cosstick is going to have another go at retirement! He originally offered his services – for little remuneration – for three years. Under Peter’s watch sales have grown and expenditure has been finely tuned. We recognise that Rye has been extremely fortunate to have benefited from Peter’s dedication to supporting our visitor economy, and we hope that he and his wife, Debbie (who is also stepping down) enjoy all that spare time!
In the autumn, our longest serving Heritage Centre member of staff, Christine Benn retired and Julie Edmonds stepped down shortly after. Our current Operations Manager Paulene Ashmore, whose patience travelling from Eastbourne by train was tested past its limit, has also decided to retire at the end of this month.
We thank them all for their contributions and give a warm welcome to our new members of staff – Heritage Centre Manager, Louisa O’Shaughnessy; Senior Sales & Information Assistant, Gill Pascall; and Seasonal Sales & Information Assistant, Kate Smith.
The annual town meeting was Louisa and Gill’s first day at the Centre. Kate will join them – and our two other members of staff, Pam Hanwell and Gail Dodson – in April.
Before moving on from staffing matters, I would like to congratulate Jessica Neame – who has been helping out at the Town Hall since July – on her appointment as Town Hall General Assistant from next month. Jessica has been helping to improve our operating systems, promote weddings, and achieve efficiency savings – but will, additionally, have a role at the Heritage Centre.
Keeping Rye tidy
Our Town Steward, Nicky Ledger has continued to enjoy widespread support for his role and we have started to take on responsibility for areas that have been neglected somewhat by other public bodies. We recently received a licence from the County Council to tidy up the green space at the junction with Rye Hill and Military Road – where we are intending to plant dwarf lavender.
We are also hoping to get Nicky trained to enforce Rother’s Dog Control Orders – especially in relation to dog fouling – and perhaps also tackling littering.
Nicky’s workload can be physically onerous during the growing season and so we are currently advertising for a seasonal Assistant Town Steward. This may well appeal to some of our younger residents looking to get a foot on the employment ladder.
The first freeman
Last year, the then Mayor Councillor Fiddimore reported that the Town Council had resolved to make former Mayor Frank Palmer its first Honorary Freeman, a richly-deserved and long overdue public recognition of his voluntary contributions to the town spanning many decades.
Another first for the Town Council was achieved in October when it admitted Lesley Brownbill as an Honorary Freewoman – in recognition of her long-standing work with Rye Singers and other voluntary contributions to the cultural life of the town.”
Next week’s report will look at issues raised in the past year including parking, speeding and the Neighbourhood Plan.
Photos : Rye News Library
Image Credits: Street Pastors , Rye News library .