Rye will probably have far less public toilets next year, whether or not the controversial plans to lease them commercially happen. It will mean the only public toilets of any size in Rye will be on Station Approach. They’re not a good advert for the town – smelly, dirty, vandalised and broken. Jonathon Bennett says its time to stop talking and get serious about getting them sorted. Fancy helping him come up with a plan?
Last week Rye Town Council discussed re-forming a committee to find a long term solution to the town’s public toilets. It will probably mean months, if not years, before anything is done. I think Rye deserves better, so I decided to see exactly what the current situation is.
The toilets at the station are owned by Network Rail (NR) and leased to Rother District Council (RDC). With local government re-organisation RDC will soon be long gone, so a solution needs to be arrived at ASAP. I contacted the appropriate person at NR who was very helpful. I think they would be prepared to release RDC from the lease and reassign it elsewhere or sell the freehold, which means the issue of ownership can be resolved very quickly. There is the possibility of Rye Town Council (RTC) taking it over, but there is no budget and no managerial process for this, so action needs to be taken now.
Then there are the other toilets in Rye which are owned by RDC. They have found a ridiculous solution by letting them to coffee shops who are then obligated to keep a toilet open (but only during business hours). This is completely crazy and certainly not in the interests of Rye. The idea of RTC taking the station toilets on as a result of having more money as the other toilets have been allowed to become coffee shops by RDC is an irony too far.
The quick and simple answer is that the station toilet building should either be leased or sold to a new commercial entity which would run it on a pay basis. Obviously, some research is required to see exactly what the usage is but I would be surprised if it didn’t pay for itself in the long run. I am now awaiting a reply from NR to see what they would like to do, if they are positive, then I shall investigate further. What we need is a quick and easy solution. It really shouldn’t be such a big deal, as probably a new purpose built off site building could be installed in a few weeks. This would not entail months off building work.
It seems clear to me that all the public toilets in Rye should be owned and run by a separate entity on a commercial basis, but there is no budget from anywhere. RTC has a very small budget, RDC is finished and will no longer exist – quite what they are doing giving new leases to coffee shops when they will not be in existence is a mystery to me.
Whilst East Sussex County Council doesn’t have any role in Rye’s public toilets, it is overspent by £29 million and is using its reserves. ESCC is considering asking for extra cash from central government which will could mean some form of “Special Measures”. It will also not be in existence within a couple of years.
The system is broken and needs a complete shake up, with a new vision taking forward ideas for the benefit of the town. All the toilet facilities should be acquired now by a new entity (either commercial or community based) which would run them on a pay basis at £0.50 per entry. This would pay for the upkeep of all the toilets and would not rely on stretched and cumbersome resources of local authorities which so far have done very little in this respect (see the comment by a previous mayor who says nothing has been done for 25 years). What we do not need is yet another committee which meets every so often, has no money or management skills and just kicks the problem down the road again and again. Rye is a vibrant and busy town with visitors from every corner of the world; to have dreadful facilities like this is a disgrace and should addressed immediately. It could happen provided there is the will.
Rye Chamber of Commerce has done a lot of the leg work, but were completely thwarted by council inaction. I’m talking to them and am confident they can help with a solution based on the ideas above. I’ll also keep talking to Network Rail.
Finally, if there is anyone out there who wishes to join with me making things happen, please be in contact jbennettlondon@gmail.com
Rye News welcomes all opinion pieces on issues that affect life in Rye and the surrounding villages. If you would like to add yours to our Opinions section email info@ryenews.org.uk.
Image Credits: Nick Forman .
Rother’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on Monday 7 July can be viewed (live and as a recording) on-line via Rother’s website -https://rother.moderngov.co.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=154&MId=1072&Ver=4
Guaranteed to be better than the telly!
It’s simple: If those who are supposed to be “managing” the toilets around Rye can’t do their job, they should be replaced with people who can.
We could stump up for some rubber gloves for the “Rother Overview and Scrutiny committee” to do the job in the meantime.
Well said, Mark. Surely in the 21st century in a supposedly civilised country, it is a basic human right to have toilet facilities readily available? We are apparently reverting to being a third world country. Cart tracks for roads, no housing unavailable for local working families as they are bought up by the wealthy as second homes/holiday lets, poor, unreliable and infrequent public transport and badly run councils. Not sure if we can sink much lower?