Editorial

A Matter of Priorities

What would the average man in the street think was the greater death risk, visiting Rye Cemetery or riding a cycle along the Rye Harbour Road?

Every single person I asked thought it was a stupid question, without exception they said riding to Rye Harbour.

Ask the same question of Rother District Council, they are knocking down headstones in our cemeteries as fast as they can and look like having to shell out £34,000 of our money to pay for it. A fraction of that money would have built a cycle and footpath down the two mile ‘Death Road’ that so recently cost the life of 22 year old Graham Matthews.

Ask Rother District Council to name all these people that have been supposedly killed by falling headstones – they will not be able to come up with one victim in the Rother area over the past 100 years!. What is it all about. “Rye’s Own” will tell you.

Its about a lot of silly fools with a bit of power not using their common sense.

Get real Rother, your actions have, we suspect, caused more deaths by anxiety and stress than headstones have been responsible for over the past 1,000 years.

Rother should leave the dead to rest in peace and take more care of the living by starting work on both cycle road and foot path immediately.

If they are not tough enough to stand out against stupid European Community directives and can’t get their priorities right, they should resign down to the last man. Hitler would have had no power if petty officials had refused to carry out his dirty work.

Rye Town Councillors are fiercely opposed to any more Rother skulduggery in our Cemetery.

This whole episode is just another reason for Rye to be in charge of her own affairs. If Rother would rather protect the people of Bexhill from falling headstones and refuse to build cycle tracks there, all well and good – but please – keep your spineless European Community rule enforcers out of this town!

                             The Strand Car Park

The Strand Car Park is in the news again. Rother District Councillor Sam Souster brought the matter up in his report at the recent Town Council meeting.

Sam, who is a great supporter of turning the Car Park between the warehouses into a pedestrian area, told the meeting that “he thought the principle has been established as there was support from some members of the Cabinet, but we can expect that R.D.C. will demand compensation for the loss of revenue if acquisition is to be achieved. It is hoped that negotiations can be arranged in the near future.”

“Rye’s Own” is not convinced that pedestrianisation of the site will be welcome by all of the people that live close or work in the various outlets there. There are no other car parks within 300 yards.

The idea of having a thriving Continental style Piatsa is very appealing to some and would certainly liven up the area.

Having to pay Rother for the privilege of using our own site is not so interesting. We understood that if Rye gets its new Quality Council Status it would be able to take over amenities, that it could manage itself, from the District Council, at no charge! This message has not filtered through to some in high places yet but the implication will, no doubt, be realised shortly.

“Rye’s Own” November 2004

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