It’s been a busy six weeks at Rother District Council after the county council elections being reinstated.
Although the elections were for county council seats, it is the district council that runs the election – arranging the polling stations, sending out the voting cards, dealing with the postal votes, and organising the count, among other duties.
Rules around pre-election period have prevented me from sharing news with you during this time, but plenty has been happening.
I was delighted to see work on the De La Warr Pavilion begin with RTB roofing repairing the main foyer roof to ensure it is watertight and insulated, while work to prepare the auditorium roof ready for solar panels is also being carried out.
This project to restore the De La Warr Pavilion and safeguard it for future generations has entailed a great deal of work and is the result of a successful partnership between Rother District Council and the De La Warr Pavilion.
We have a long way to go until the ambitious project is complete, but the start of work is a huge milestone, and my congratulations and thanks goes to everyone who has helped us get to this point.
On Monday, May 11, my Cabinet colleagues and I agreed to formalise the arrangements for Bexhill-on-Sea Town Council and Rye Town Council to continue operating and managing 10 public conveniences.
The two councils have been operating the Rother District Council’s toilets since 2025 to ensure they have been open during peak summer months. Now we will have in place formal licences that grant the councils the rights to maintain and operate the facilities for 12 months.
I’m pleased that we have been able to formalise this agreement with licenses while we continue to work towards devolving or leasing out the buildings, and I am grateful to the town councils for their continued efforts in keeping the public conveniences open.
Finally, it’s all change at the county council after 25 years of Conservative control. Last week’s election left the council with no one party in overall control and at the time of writing we were still waiting to hear which party or parties would form the administration.
Our focus is and always has been doing the best for the people of Rother and that will continue with us working closely with the new administration on local issues and the forthcoming local government reorganisation.
Regardless of politics, those voted into power give an awful amount of their time and energy to represent their towns and villages and I would like to put on record my thanks to all those councillors who leave the county council, especially those who represented areas across Rother.
Ends.
Published: 15th May 2026
