Camber Sands has always been a popular location for visitors, especially during hot weather. The local economy needs these visitors and we welcome them, usually, and in manageable numbers.

For years, on bank holidays and particularly warm summer days, the traffic and visitor numbers soar way above anything that is manageable or safe. During Covid, over the last few months, these visitor numbers have soared regardless of the day of the week. With visitors of over 10,000 at times in a village with a population of 1200. 

Rother District Council have repeatedly posted on social media to politely ask people to not visit. This does not work. Not only will it be ignored but those who visit will not be following RDC on social media so it is completely pointless.

Today, the 24th June, the roads were gridlocked into and throughout the village. Queues ran from the top of Rye Hill all the way down to Camber from 10am until late in the afternoon. Local people could not get to and from work on time, local buses, postal services, community transport, mutual aid volunteers, medicine delivery vehicles were all affected. Today many school children were stuck on their school bus in queues for over 4 hours in sweltering heat and leaving very worried and anxious parents. Emergency service vehicles would have been prevented access if it was required.

For too long the council have merely stated the events after they’ve happened rather than deal with the problem and attempt to prevent repeat occurrence.

The lack of consideration for the locals (especially during this challenging time where we still have many shielding who need to feel they can leave their house for some fresh air) is astounding!

We are calling on RDC, ESCC and Sussex Police to something! Block the road at each end and check every driver for proof of residence if you have to! This is an extreme example but it’s not our job to come up with the solutions, it’s your job. 

Please put processes in place so that the residents of Camber, Rye and surrounding can kindly welcome manageable numbers of visitors and not have their lives affected so negatively by them.