Costs are factor in Rye allotments fight

I would like to congratulate Councillor Sonia Holmes of both Rye Town Council and Rother District Council for putting her head over the parapet and stating unambiguously that she will fight for Rye’s two remaining statutory allotment sites to be returned to the town.

My only caveat are the words as printed: “Counsel’s opinion is that Rye Town Council has a good case over the ownership but that a defeated challenge could result in an astronomical cost”.

The costs of a court case are estimated at £100,000 plus; and even if Rye won, as its legal advisers are confident it would, the costs would still have to be borne by local council tax payers – a fact that RDC’s supporters have ruthlessly, and in my view, unethically, exploited.

Royston Godwin

National and Local Government Affairs Officer, Rye Allotments Association