Police cannot take on enforcement
I totally support Mr Rod Came’s letter (“Rye Observer” 5th September) when he talks about the need for more policing. Sadly it appears that this is not going to happen. I am told by Chief Inspector Warren Franklin that “police resources are extremely limited, and that the Town Centre has one dedicated PCSO allocated to it.” I am told that that because this PCSO works a shift pattern he is only available at limited times of the day. The Chief Inspector also tells me that this solitary PCSO has other priorities which have been set for him dealing with visiting scenes of crime, ASB matters and his “re-assurance” patriols in the Town Beat which includes all the main roads in Rye from New Road to the top of Udimore Road. So what chance do we have when the whole police force is for all intents and purposes invisible? Certainly the public have come to realise this, which means of course they know they can park anywhere with impunity.
Mr Came is sceptical about the appointment of a Community Warden. I can understand his reasoning, but we are up against a situation where the police are unable to take on enforcement duties due to the lack of resources, and the single PSCO himself has other duties to perform. At least such an appointment could go some way of warning off those vehicle owners who ignore parking restrictions such as we have seen outside the “George” where parking on the corner of Lion Street has been causing mayhem. If Mr Came has any other practical solutions let him contact me, and I will bring it up at the next meeting of the Highways Forum, but sadly I do not see any.
Cllr Granville Bantick
Rye Town Councillor