Some may say, in mythological terms, that everything comes to a head at the point of a full moon – good or bad – and so we wonder if the final closing date for our local NISA shop falling on the same day as a full moon was, in fact, coincidence. Whilst we will probably never know what was behind Pontins’ business decision to close the store, we can, at least, salute the staff who, over many years, have provided an outstanding service to our community.
On that last day, 17th September, NISA threw open their doors and declared a ‘50% off everything’ sale to clear out a lot of the stock. Whilst Britannia (the owner of Pontins) did this for logistic reasons so they would not have to physically move it all, the shopfloor staff felt that they were doing one last favour to the community, by offering the chance to stock up on items at a reduced rate. Let’s face it, in the current ‘cost of living crises’, which shows little sign of abating, every saving is welcomed by one and all. The shop was full and brimming with customers, with queues for the tills, reminiscent of the summer days when Pontins park was open.
The day after the closure, curtains were drawn across the doors and barriers were placed across the car park entrance. It was, and still remains, a sombre sight.
As the realisation of the loss of this vital asset to Camber has sunk in over the previous few weeks, our thoughts turn to the staff members who have, in varying measures, cheered our days and offered a friendly word and a smile. Most of them are Camber residents, our neighbours in many cases, and we have got to know them over the years. These people – our reliable constants – are now facing unemployment and an uncertain future. Fortunately, morale remains high, with most of them talking about how they are confident of finding alternative employment in the area.
The newsletter team wishes them all the very best of luck with finding new jobs, and we are sure this is echoed throughout our village – along with a big THANK YOU for all their hard work in serving us all, over the years! Thank you to the NISA team – you are all Local Heroes, collectively and individually. We salute you and offer you our very best wishes.
Editor’s note: We would like to thank the NISA team for nominating both the Camber Community Newsletter and The Monday Club for a share of the Making a Difference Locally fund that NISA gives out each year, and for the prizes they have donated for the village Christmas Fayre.
Editor’s note 2: We would like to thank NISA staff for selling our 2025 calendar on our behalf. Copies of the calendar are now available to The Camber Castle and Rye Bay Café, or by emailing cambernews@hotmail.com , or calling 01797 224403.
SOS – Save Our Store!
As the news broke about the imminent closure of NISA, the newsletter team wrote to Rother District Council, imploring them to urge Britannia Hotels to lease the NISA shop out. As freeholders of the Pontins site, and as the local authority granting planning permission for the shop some years ago, we felt they alone could help us to save this vital asset for our village.
We all know too well that Britannia Hotels rarely does a U-turn but, if they can be persuaded, there would be options for other retailers to take over the premises, or for a committee to turn the building into a community shop, which has been done in many rural villages across the UK in recent years.
To date, Rother DC has not responded. A representative of the newsletter attended the September Parish Council meeting to ask our district councillors why we had received no reply, not even an acknowledgement of our email (which was sent to the Leader of Rother DC, as well as our two designated District Councillors, as elected by us).
We were told by Councillor Lizzie Hacking that it was not necessarily that Rother DC was not acting, but ‘might’ be the case that they have acted and not received a response themselves. We asked that we are kept informed as to what action has been taken, regardless of whether a response has been received because, as it stands, it feels like Camber is simply being ignored by Rother DC.
We will, of course, report any developments here in the newsletter.
