Friends, 

Thank you so much for all the support with this petition. 

We understand how vital Sidley Car Park being free is to the local economy, to All Saints parents and to maintaining the delicate balance between the High Street and Lidl. And our message is cutting through.

I wanted to update you on where we are now.

The budget consultation responses are in, and an overwhelming number of residents have expressed their opposition to the proposed car parking charges. Not just in Sidley, either. And it is good to see residents in Northiam, Little Common and other areas joining the push back against the monetisation of community assets.

Tonight (20th Jan), Rother's Overview and Scrutiny Committee will be discussing the consultation responses and making recommendations to Cabinet. With financial challenges persisting across local government, and with the upcoming devolution throwing a lot of things up into the air, it will be an interesting discussion as Councillors grapple with how to make best use of the Council's services and resources in the remaining years before Rother District Council might cease to exist. 

I cannot attend or speak at Scrutiny tonight, due to rules around Cabinet members (of which, I am one) not speaking at Scrutiny meetings. I hope though that they will decide to recommend the removal of this proposal from the budget.

After Scrutiny have made their recommendations, the buck falls to Cabinet members on 03.02.25, who will have to put forward recommendations to Full Council. I have support from some of my fellow Cabinet members on this matter and I hope that, with the backing of Scrutiny and this petition, we can make a convincing case to remove this item from the budget proposals. 

After Cabinet, the final stage is a Full Council meeting, 24.02.25. Here, all Councillors can speak on and vote on the proposals, and members of the public can also ask questions as part of Public Question Time (see here if you want to participate: https://www.rother.gov.uk/strategies-policies-and-plans/consultation-and-feedback/public-question-time/ 

Your support on this has been valuable and Cllr Chowdhury and I greatly appreciate it. 

Happy New Year,

Cllr Sam Coleman.