Rother removes Battle’s parking scheme stickers

Rother had agreed to allow the chamber to put the stickers on parking metres and information boards in the Mount Street and Upper and Lower Market car parks.

These were created to inform car park users about the scheme which would allow them to get a refund on their parking costs from participating traders.

But almost as soon as the stickers were put up, they were removed by an over-zealous council official.

Dale Cromwell, chair of the Battle and District Chamber of Commerce, said he was “disappointed” and “frustrated” by Rother’s actions.

Speaking about the official who removed the stickers, he said: “They took them all down because they did not know what it was all about, even though we got the OK from the council.”

Dale said the chamber had sent a computer-generated image to Rother to show them what the stickers would look like in place, and said the council appeared to be happy with this.

But now Rother says the stickers covered up important information - a claim Dale strongly denies.

Dale said: “I’m a bit bemused because the stickers we put up did not cover any information and the massive board, which has the information on, is still visible.

“Those on the machines did not cover anything except some graffiti.

“I’m a bit disappointed because we all went through such an effort.”

Dale said Rother did not contact him to tell him the stickers had been removed.

He said: “The council did know about it, but they decided not to ring us before they took them down.

“The break down in communication was a bit of a disappointment really.

“It would be good if we could all work together rather than against each other.

“We need their co-operation to make it happen.

“I just want to get it off the ground, but I guess other people are not keen to work quite so quickly.”

After nearly two weeks of exchanging e-mails with Dale after the first batch of stickers were taken down, Rother says it is “very happy” for the chamber to promote the parking refund scheme.

Rother District Council’s head of amenities, Kim Ross, said: “We are very happy for the chamber of commerce to promote this initiative on Rother’s car parking signage. “We have made an offer to work with them on producing these notices to make sure they suit all parties.

“It seems there has been a misunderstanding and, unfortunately, the first batch of signs put up by the chamber did cover up some important information on our boards that we need motorists to be aware of by law, so they were temporarily removed.

“However, we have no issues at all with what the chamber has suggested in principle and will work with them in ensuring the promotional material is both visible and doesn’t cover up important information.”