Time for Rother to act on parking issue

As a result of Rother District Council’s actions, there are now around 15-20 cars parked on George Hill between Blenheim Court and the primary school all day every day and this number doubles when the schoolchildren are taken to and from school.

Cars then line both sides of this part of George Hill for around 150 yards up the hill from the primary school, effectively making it a single track road.

This is very dangerous to the primary school children darting in and out between parked cars (even more so when the road freezes over, or is wet and cars cannot stop easily) and to the residents of George Close and Blenheim Court who are totally unable to see whether it is safe to drive on to George Hill, or not.

This section of George Hill is very wet and often has water running down it when it rains, because of the number of springs in the vicinity.

I attended a Rother District Council committee meeting on March 28, along with around 15 other people from Robertsbridge, as the Station Road car parking issue was on the agenda.

I had hoped to be able to explain fully to the committee members exactly why there is a real risk of there being a fatality on George Hill and hence why urgent action is needed now.

To our amazement, the village petition was only disparagingly accepted by the chairman, who was also intent upon not allowing any of the villagers to say anything.

If someone is hurt or killed on George Hill, or if cars are damaged in an accident, insurance companies will discover that the council was warned about the dangers of the situation beforehand and seek to take legal action in order to recoup any pay-outs.

Individuals or families involved in any accident may also wish to litigate against the council.

Enough is enough Rother District Council. Could we please have some common sense and immediate action now on this issue and not in three, six, or more than twelve months.

Douglas Jones

George Close, Robertsbridge