Rye Observer Comment: The stink won’t go away

The stink over Rye’s public conveniences just won’t go away it seems.

Rye Town Council has been proactive in seeking a solution and asked Rother to provide details of the cleaning contract and how regularly Rye’s public conveniences are cleaned.

Rother provided what looks like a comprehensive and rigorous cleaning routine and claimed standards of cleaning were monitored by its own inspectors three times a week.

And yet complaints from visitors and Rye residents continue to roll in unabated. So why then is there stil a problem and what can be done to solve it? It is clear that something is badly amiss.

It is unfortunate too that the worst problems are associated with the toilets at Crownfields, by the station, as for many visitors, arriving by train or coach, this will be their first, and possibly lasting, impression of Rye,

Raise a glass to the Robin Hood at Icklesham which has been voted regional Pub of the Year by the well respected Campaign for Real Ale.

The pub, with it’s annual beer festival and bonfire celebrations, has become something of an institution in the Rye area and has proved a shining example of what a pub can achieve in its community, raising thousands of pounds to support charities and village institutions.

It is particularly gratifying to see a pub doing well at a time when the number of pub closures each week across the country is well into double figures.

It was the Sussex poet Hilaire Belloc who wrote: “When you have your lost your inns then drown your empty selves, for you will have lost the last of England”.