Your letters - August 27, 2010

Fight to save Rye's Victorian Villas

I WAS dismayed to read your lead story in this week's Observer (August 20) regarding the possible demolition of Stanley Villas terrace of Victorian Houses in Ferry Road as part of the new Sainsburys development in Rye.

Of course it has been widely recognised that the Queen Adelaide public house and the adjoining row of small cottages would need to be demolished to provide sufficient access to the site but I fail to understand how the demolition of the complete row of houses next to them can be justified for this purpose.

Presumably they will all suffer unwelcome "planning blight" until this matter is resolved.

19th Century housing of this type is relatively uncommon in Rye and is as much an important part of the architectural heritage of the town as many of our protected buildings in the Citadel.

This terrace, as many will know, boasts a most elegant, and unique, terracotta plaque celebrating Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887 and for this reason alone its loss would be most unfortunate.

Too many buildings have been lost to Rye over recent years - the Rye Pottery building (also in Ferry Road), the only detached Victorian villa in The Grove(demolished to provide access to the Swimming Pool) and longer ago, the Regent Cinema in Cinque Port Street; just imagine how wonderful it would be to have had that building survive in the town for use as a theatre.

I trust that commonsense may prevail, and that our Town Council and the Conservation society will fight vigorously plans to demolish this terrace. If our forefathers had not acted much of the Rye we enjoy today could have been lost.

It's up to us to fight for, and preserve what we have and not accept defeat in the name of "progress".

We can surely enjoy the undoubted benefits of the new supermarket without having to sacrifice this important corner of Rye.

Bill Taylor

The Old Coach House

High Street, Rye

Don't rely on tourism for local economy

TOURISM is "fundamental to rebuilding and re-balancing of our economy" (Rye View - 20/8/10). What tosh!

Tourism is a seasonal, service-based industry which only benefits tourist spots - and then only on good days, when the exchange rates are right!

True, it supports the hotels, restaurants, the affordable pocket-money gee-gaw trade (much of which is imported!).

But it does not support the year round manufacturing and agricultural industries which require manual and mental skills; which create new jobs and new supporting industries.

That is where this country's real wealth and skills' base lies, for tourism will never bring back the Rye Foundry, the boat yards, Weslakes, Farnborough Engineering, Atlas Stone with their meaningful jobs, and the specialist High Street shops which fully supply local needs.

In fact tourism does little to redress our balance of payments.

We exported 221,000m of goods in 2007 - our largest export destination is the USA (15%), followed by Germany (11%), France (8%), Ireland (8%) and Holland (7%) – you can forget the rest of the EU!

China accounts for only 0.44% of our exports, yet compare that to our imports of 308,500m accounted for by Germany (14%), USA (8%), Holland (7.5% - mostly food), France (7%) and then China (6.2%).

Clearly this huge imbalance between our exports and imports ain't going to be solved by coach loads of rich German, American and Chinese tourists!

The answer to our dismal balance of payments and economy lies in new school woodwork and metalwork shops, training skilled craftsman and women by apprenticeships, and a well aimed kick up Britain's political backside!

Barry M Jones

Bixley Lane, Beckley

De La Warr should not be subsidised

I HAVE been tempted to write to The Observer about many issues, including speeding through Catsfield, lack of policing, and council tax, but when I read the diatribe from Denis Delahunt in last week's edition, I had to put pen to paper.

John Hill has entertained us with his letters over many years, and has spoken for the majority of people in Battle and probably Bexhill.

The De La Warr should be making money, not being subsidised to the tune of 1million pounds per annum (500,000 from council tax payers).

The fact that they put on 'arty farty' exhibitions is part of the problem and people like Denis Delahunt, who think they understand modern art, do not help.

Carry on John Hill.

A P Taylor

Catsfield

WHAT a pompous spiteful letter from Denis Delahunt in last week's Observer.

The views expressed by John Hill about the recent Tomoko Takahashi Introspective Retrospective Exhibition at the De La Warr are not held by him alone.

There were several letters in the Bexhill edition of the Observer containing similar criticisms.

Has Mr Delahunt also made personal attacks on the authors of those letters?

John Hill's views on 'What is Art' are as valid as Mr Delahunt's and are more likely to represent the majority view.

And what is wrong with reminding the director of the De La Warr Trust that the Trust is in receipt of more than 1m annually of tax and ratepayers hard earned cash?

The latest yearly report the De La Warr are required to make to Rother District Council (has Mr Delahunt read it?) tells us the Trust failed to meet the Local Satisfaction Index and did not receive their incentive grant in 2009. Enough said!

Should Mr Delahunt choose to visit Battle he is likely to be lynched by the John Hill Appreciation Society.

J E Goldsworthy

Glengorse, Battle

Rye wildlife has to be protected

READING a recent article in The Rye Observer regarding the Sainsburys purchase of council and railway land, I was concerned that they would bring in the bulldozers and demolish the green strip of land alongside the railway track.

This area is a habitat for wildlife including many birds.

Being instrumental towards obtaining a tree preservation order (TPO) on this site, I wished to be certain that Sainsburys were aware of the TPO and sent a letter to The Property Director Neil Sachdev requesting that he answer my questions regarding the TPO and their intentions.

I received a letter from him confirming their awareness and that they have commisioned their landscape consultants to undertake a detailed survey of the site.

Also,that he had instructed their public affairs representatives ,GKA,to keep me informed of any plans as they evolve.

So, rest easy green gang and I will keep you posted of any proposed ideas.

Patricia Barefoot

The Close, Rye.

Rye needs the boost of new Sainsburys

WHAT harm will Sainsburys have on Rye? We have two greengrocers and one butchers that survived Jempsons, the rest are junk shops, we have five in Cinque Ports street alone and one empty Post Office!

I disagree with Mrs Osborne. as it will not harm Magdala House as that is further down. Let Rye be a good town again, not a has-been.

Why should we go to other towns to do our shopping? Let the old Woolworths be a clothes shop for the teenagers. Wake up Rye, have a good look around - it is dead!

Mrs Bryant

Rye

Deploy forces in flood-hit Pakistan

IN THE news today the Director of Emergency Operations at UNICEF has complained about the lack of support for the relief effort in Pakistan.

How about someone in authority putting him in touch with a certain general commanding a force of 120,000 trained people currently working in a next door country on what would appear to many to be a futile task?

It could provide the superhuman effort needed to overcome an awful human tragedy in Pakistan, if those forces were deployed as quickly as possible.

I doubt somehow whether the necessary telephone calls will be made.

Stephen Hardy MBE

High Street

Robertsbridge

Village losing a good friend

WE WERE all very sorry to see Bodiam Manor School closed in the village. The school has been a good friend to the village.

Pupils must come first and we hope that they get places in other schools, but also we must not forget the staff who are without a job. It is the staff who made it a very good independent school.

The parish council had Bodiam Manor School on the agenda at Monday's meeting and will do their best to keep the village informed of what might happen to the school site.

Geoffrey Goodsell

Chairman

Bodiam Parish Council

Sewage problems have been ongoing

IT IS with great concern that I see that due to a leakage of raw sewage into the River Line at Battle almost all aquatic life was killed in a substantial stretch of the river, including trout, bullheads and brook lampreys (a protected species).

An investigation by the Environment Agency is ongoing, but evidently the sewage pumping station upstream of the dead fish failed on Saturday, August 14, and Southern Water Services did not manage to repair the fault until Monday, August 16 at 11.30am.

I could clearly smell sewage on the Saturday from my house at Canadia and tankers have been pumping away remaining pools of sewage in the river around the pumping station during this week.

I have had cause in the past to write to Southern Water voicing my concerns over the apparent leakage of sewage into the river at this site.

There is a footpath that runs between the river and the pumping station and it is quite clear that any overflow will end up in the river. There is no, or little attempt at providing any bunding system as would be required for diesel storage.

There is an open topped metal cage system in a vain attempt to filter any overflow of large solids, and this is often festooned with toilet paper, showing that leakage does occur from time to time.

The sewers run beneath the fields alongside the rivers edge, and in times of heavy rainfall, in the past, the manhole covers have been known to lift off and raw sewage to pollute the fields and the river.

In fact I remember at least one occasion when lime was applied around the leaks from the blown manhole covers.

If it were a farmer or industrial business that were to cause similar pollution they would not be allowed to get away with it, but it seems that our water companies are somehow able pollute with impunity.

Paul Questier

Canadia Cottage

London Road, Battle

Forget the cloud cuckoo dreamland

THIS is a plea to get on with the job, not a rerun of the arguments for or against the Bexhill Hastings Link Road.

Mr Nick Bingham has a wonderful sky blue sky approach to the "iniquity" of the intended road.

It is a very sad day for all the inhabitants who live along and near the A259 to hear that some eventual relief from the dirt and fumes generated along that corridor may be snatched from them – and for what?

A cloud cuckoo dreamland that requires we stop the world and we start all over again. It is just not real.

What on earth happened to the people consideration in the Sustainable Transport Solution? Can we please get real about what we have now?

Traffic congestion and delays, accidents that cause deaths and injuries, air pollution that accelerates asthma and other diseases costs the nation an estimated 20 billion a year.

That is a crippling weight on the public purse, on the National Health Service and the economy. And pop into A&E sometime to see those broken bodies and trauma effects. The people deserve better.

While I am fully in favour of improving the way we travel about our daily lives by reducing the effects of the gravest emissions, the bus in the jam on the A259 at the end of the road will not get far with you and your shopping, and the amount of money invested in the railway system will still not get you where you want to go any quicker than it does now.

So what is being offered? It seems like a pipedream on one hand and a continuing daily grind on the other.

I fully accept that there will many who do not drive or even have the means to drive on our appallingly under invested road system.

But when a scheme comes up that is new investment in the county, potentially will take a great deal of misery out of our lives, or at least improve the quality of it, let's give it fuller support for a change.

Richard Tilden Smith

Church Cottages, Mountfield

New salvo of Canons for Rye?

I HEAR we are shortly to have two members of our Rye clergy inducted as Canons of Chichester Cathedral. Can anyone suggest what a gathering of canons is called? I suggested a clutch of canons, but my husband thought a salvo of canons was more appropriate?

Sally Compton

Rye