Rye Council are tore-consider rulingon new loading bay

The Council came under fire last week for ignoring work and recommendations from the Highways Forum.

The Forum said that allowing the High Street bay to be shared by the public at certain times, rather than being for goods vehicles only, could make it harder to enforce and lead to goods vehicles continuing to park on footpaths in Lion Street putting pedestrians at risk.

David Nixon, the Chamber of Commerce representative on the Highways Forum, said: “It was a unanimous decision of this Forum, after in depth discussions, that to ensure its effectiveness, and to be able to have unambiguous enforcement, the bay needed to be 24/7 year round, otherwise the whole project could be a waste of tax payers money should a car be parked in the bay over night and remain there in the early morning preventing its intended use.

“The proposed bay is intended to alleviate delivery problems in the central High Street area including Lion Street following insufficient thought to the consequences of planning consent granted to The George for commercial redevelopment of their garage/loading facility in The High Street into a restaurant.

“The county councillor Keith Glazier seemed stunned that the Forum’s recommendations were so blatantly disregarded.”

Lion Street resident Nick Taylor, who has been campaigning for safety measures for a year, said: “I have written to the Town Clerk asking that the vote be overturned until there has been a proper presentation to the Town Council by members of their own appointed Highways Forum, setting out their proposals and reasoning regarding the loading bay. I have also asked that the proposals and objections set out by The George Hotel are fully made public.”