Object

Representation ID: 19673

Received: 02/03/2009

Respondent: Messrs. Chishick, Commotto and Terry

Not enough positive action to maintain village shops. RDC has tended to have relaxed attitude to village services, contrasting with other rural districts. Recent initiatives have yet to produce evidence of change in attitude. Lack of real support has been made worse by Action in Rural Sussex making their Village Shop Adviser redundant due to lack of funding from bodies like Rother. In Winchelsea, where community efforts re-opened both village shop and PO, we believe that a village shop is probably the most important asset in community, a view that has been supported in consultations under the Winchelsea Town Plan.
In the Objectives, the role of village shops should be highlighted in (ii). The importance is recognised in the section on Services and Community Development, but not adequately reflected in the Objectives.