Your letters - January 29, 2010

We welcome your letters - email them to [email protected] Please include your name and address if your letter is for publication.

Friends not happy with new library

I refer to the comment made by Cllr Keith Glazier at last weeks Rye Town Council's Planning Meeting, and subsequently reported in the Rye Observer that he felt confused with the position of the Friends of Rye Library over the proposal of East Sussex County Council to seek to move the existing library to the old Woolworths site.

At the meeting we had with the council officers in Lewes, on August 10 last year, we reluctantly accepted that as the Monastery site, which I must emphasise was the Friends' first choice, was no longer to be considered, the Woolworth site would receive our support in principle.

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It was obvious the county council would not move from their declared position. We were desperate to have a better library with more space appropriate for a town which is a major literary and historic centre.

At that time we had no knowledge what might end up in this building, and certainly we did not know that the help point would be moved from the Rye Partnership Offices into the library. It seemed to us very strange that it was never stated in the planning application for change of use which sought the change of use from retail to library use only.

Cllr Glazier can surely understand our misgivings now with the space that we had thought we would have for a new and better library suddenly reduced by a help point run we understand by a mixture of staff trained to do both jobs despite the assurances given by the county personnel at the recent public consultation meetings in Rye that we should not be concerned.

It is no wonder Rye Town Council rightly refused to approve the latest planning application to make alterations to the existing building until more details and design plans were available.

Cllr Granville Bantick

Secretary of the Friends of Rye Library

Lack of clarity on the Woolworth's plans

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Current plans for the proposed new library in the former Woolworth's store demonstrate an amazing lack of clarity.

There appear to be no scaled drawings available for the ground floor. There is no clear indication of how much space in square metres will be allocated to library services or how that space will be organised. Nothing is in writing, any information at the consultations is verbal, and this has led to considerable confusion in people's minds as to exactly what ESCC is proposing.

I attended a consultation this week and was informed that the community help point, in future not just for Rother services but also dealing with county issues, will be incorporated into the library area.

To my astonishment, I was then assured that this provision would take away no space at all from the library. (Given the size even of the current help point in the partnership office, does this mean that ESCC has access to revolutionary miniaturising technology?)

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We really do need clear and accurate written information that we can evaluate. Why not provide us with that information, ESCC, and even let the Town Council see it as well!

Councillor Mary Smith

Tower St

Rye

Thoughtless owners

On walking with a friend on Sunday at the western end of the Rye Harbour Nature reserve, on either side of the path running from north to south were a dozen or more neatly tied, filled dog poo bags.

I can only assume that the persons concerned are totally thick. Why go to the trouble of placing dog mess into a bag and leaving it on the path, either for some unfortunate volunteer to dispose of for them, or to be left to sit there for years to come? These morons obviously cannot understand that poo on its own would eventually disperse (often on the shoes of we unfortunate walkers and then onto clothes and carpets) but plastic bags will just sit there.

It would be wonderful to find these culprits and post these revolting parcels through their letter boxes in the hope that their beloved pets would spread the contents copiously around their homes.

Wake up thoughtless dog owners!

Margot Dixon

Hospital staff should get free parking

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I was saddened to read your article about nurse Natalie's parking ticket at the Conquest, and the failure of the Appeal Panel to treat her case with leniency.

As many of your readers will know, I have been active in campaigning for a fairer parking regime at the Conquest over many months; and was pleased when East Sussex Hospitals Trust agreed that pay as you leave parking was the way forward.

That was last summer. And yet we continue to have problems such as Natalie's being reported.

The staff parking situation at the Conquest is made doubly unfair by the fact that there are different arrangements for different groups of staff.

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The car parks around the medical hospital accommodation are charging car parks, but the car park outside the Woodlands Unit is free to mental health trust staff.

On top of this, we have an enforcement regime which is over-zealous and unfair.

When I arranged a cross-party meeting with thechairman of the Hospital Trust Board in June last year, there was cross-party agreement that the parking contractor should be released to work elsewhere.

East Sussex Hospitals Trust has not yet provided an acceptable set of parking rules for the Conquest, and it must.

I for one will continue to press for it.

For me, a fairer settlement means free parking for staff.

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If, additionally, the trust wants to give proper incentives to staff not to travel by car, in order to reduce its carbon footprint, it has my wholehearted support.

Nick Perry

Parliamentary campaigner

Hastings and Rye Lib Dems

Have your say on Rye Action Plan

Copies of the Rye Action Plan for 2009 to 2014 are available free to anyone who wants one. There are 37 points at issue, some nebulous, some not; they cover just about every aspect of life in the town, with palpable consequences for everyone.

The best bit of the plan is the invitation on the inside back cover to everyone to "Get Involved": here's how.

1 Identify the points that affect you

2 Get together with other people similarly affected

3 If there isn't an active campaigning group already, start one

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4 Identify the Rye Town Councillor(s) who will stand up for what you want

5 Write to, email, telephone or just speak to councillors at all three levels – Rye Town Council, Rother District Council and East Sussex County Council.

6 Write to your MP and make his life a misery too; that what he's there for.

7 Ask awkward questions – how much, how many, where, when, and who

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8 Write to the Rye Observer and put it all in the public domain.

To give an example, items 11 and 13 both concern Rye library. The problem is, ESCC have proposed to rent the old Woolworth's site for 25 years to re-house it, and a thoroughly tendentious questionnaire has been issue jointly by ESCC and Rother District Council.

On the face of it, RDC has muscled in on an excellent opportunity for the library authority (ESCC) to provide the town with the bibliophilic facilities it needs; if RDC is going to pay rent to ESCC to use the old Woolworth's site for non-library purposes, how much will this rent be?

The questionnaire takes it for granted that RDC will have a dominant presence in the premises, to the detriment of the library users, and the existing action group will fight that all the way.

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Neither the allotments nor the real possibility of a local government re-organisation are mentioned in the RAP 2009-2014. For the latest official statement on the allotments, you have to look at Fixtures (RTC still want them back), and of course this newspaper's allotments column. As for Rye's other open spaces needing protection, has anyone thought of starting a "Friends of Rye Cemetery"?

E.R. Godwin

Landgate

Rye

Messy Main Street

On walking up Main Street, as I do most days, I am appalled at the litter scattered about far and wide. I make sure quite regularly that there is no litter outside my house, and also my neighbours', and if there is some I pick it up.

Why don't other people do this? It would mean that the lanes and verges were kept tidy. Other people I know take a plastic bag for litter with them when walking their dogs, which is another good idea.

Why can't we take a pride in our surroundings by keeping them free of rubbish? Other countries do.

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My son lives on a large estate in the United States and there is never a sign of litter anywhere.

Whilst on the subject, I have also noticed that the grounds of Rye College are often covered in cartons, packaging, etc. after the lunch break.

Surely the students should be encouraged to keep their surroundings clean and tidy?

J.D. Weston (Mrs.)

School Lane

Peasmarsh

Where were Rye councillors?

This is with reference to the article in the Rye Observer about lack of interest of the residents of Udimore Road, which is in no way at all true.

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I have attended, with many others, all the meetings called regarding the development of Udimore Road, the final one being the Governent Inquiry held at Rye Community Centre it was notable that there was an absence of Rye councillors including Paul Osborne.

Many residents also attended meetings at Bexhill.

In fact at one meeting a coach load of people came so what right has P. Osborne to publically berate the residents for a lack of interest,

I am a little surprised that you did not check the validity of this statement before printing.

I have no intention of entering a battle of words with you over this but I do feel you should know the truth, we do feel that more could have been done by Rye Town Council and Rother District Council on this matter,

M.L. Blackman

Udimore Road

'Class-based cliche' is misleading

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Stephen Jackson's letter is pure Lib-Dem propaganda which he cannot be allowed to get away with without an immediate riposte.

He must be aware that UKIP and Conservative Party policies on Europe (and many other issues) are totally different.

On Europe, UKIP wants us out of the EU completely, regardless of the fact that it is our largest trading partner and that we share so much common history. In contrast, Conservative policy is to work closely with EU institutions, national governments and like minded political groups, preserving decentralised, democratic traditions and ensuring real powers for these institutions in the best interests of the European peoples as a whole.

Anyone who watches Daniel Hannan's web casts will know what a respecter of European culture he is – he is fluent in French, German and Spanish, he has traveled widely and has extensive experience of European business and political institutions. However, he does not want a European superstate and unelected bureaucrats to override our own institutions.

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He wants to take constructive measures to defend UK citizens from the dilution of our institutions by resisting our Labour Government's eagerness, during the last decade, to hand over more and more powers to Brussels without a clear mandate from the British people.

Regarding the NHS, David Cameron has made it quite clear in his policy statement that it will have to change in many significant ways for the better.

What will not change is the principle of it being free at point of use and available to everyone based on need and not on the ability to pay. Daniel Hannan shares this view but is emphatic that the current management, organisation and style of the NHS cannot continue.

The Lib-Dems may support Stephen Jackson, but I assure them that his ill-informed rantings and use of tired 'class-based' cliches misleads the public and reflects badly on him and his Party.

Richard Meade

Westfield

The umpire strikes back!

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It is the lot of every umpire, referee and marshall to have to deal with the naive belief of players and spectators that games are decided according to the rules.

But I have been shocked that anyone could believe that the Winchelsea Streete Game would stoop to such Corinthian depths!

Does three hundred years of tradition as a Rotten Borough and then 150 years of our uniquely unelected Corporation count for nothing?

It would appear that the Game Marshall of the Antient Town of Winchelsea is subject to the same intolerable pressures as Michel Platini and Sepp Blatter to impose an ethos of fairness and sportsmanship.

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However, we are not fossils in Winchelsea! We have modern ptechnologie! Nowadays, we can consult video evidence.

I have checked with the Fourth Marshall. Darryl had turned down the volume, so as not to alarm his guide dog. This meant that we were unable to hear what was said, but there is little doubt, from the hand gestures of the Blue Team, that pre-rehearsed tactics were employed. The decision stands!

And, by the way, that beard is not Mediterranean. I bought it in Bombay, during our negotiations with the Indian Premier League. We'll see about global popularity!

The Game Marshall