‘Scruffy’ car wash site needs to clean up act

The hand car wash, adjoining the Riverhaven Hotel, on Winchelsea Road, is well used but has been condemned for its appearance, which opponents say is blighting one of the main entrances into the town.

Rasoul Hama, the Hastings based owner of the car wash, is applying to Rother District Council for planning permission to install a canopy and screen on the site.

Rye Mayor Shaun Rogers said: “I have used this myself and it is always very busy. The only problem I have with it is that it still looks very scruffy and untidy. If they start putting tents and screens up it could end up looking even more run down than it is now.”

Cllr Nigel Jennings said: “I have concerns over this as the location is an entrance to Rye and offers a view across the town as you approach. I don’t know that this is an appropriate design for the space.”

Cllr Bernardine Fiddimore said: “This is clearly a service that people want and need and it is always busy, but it is very scruffy.

“I have seen similar car washes in other areas and it does not need to look that way. They could make some effort to smarten it up.”

Cllr Heidi Foster commented: “It is just not good enough.”

Rye Rother councillor Sam Souster said: “It does look really awful. Cleaning rags are just hung up to dry and it gives the area the appearance of a shanty town.”

Member of Rye Town Council’s planning committee voted to refuse permission on the grounds that it is an innapropriate development that detracts from the appearance of the town.

Planners at Rother District Council will have the final say when they meet.

The scruffy appearance of the town was one of the main concerns raised by local residents at the Rye Annual Town meeting earlier this year.

There are already growing complaints about the state of the empty and boarded up Total Garage site nearby and a public meeting, called by Rye MP Amber Rudd, has had to be postponed while an Environmnet Agency investigation into contamination on the site continues.