Deputy Leader Cllr Sally Longford:
We understand these are anxious times, with new changes to our lives coming on a daily basis, and how important it is for people to have the right information available to them. Since coronavirus began impacting on us, we have been answering people’s questions about what they should do, and what we are doing, to respond to this constantly evolving situation. We are gathering our responses in one place on our website here, covering everything from whether bins continue to be collected (they are) to whether weddings are still going ahead through our Register Office (they aren’t). We are constantly updating this information as new Government guidance emerges and our services are changed in response to the emerging situation.
I’m pleased that we are currently keeping all neighbourhood markets open for business, just providing essential supplies, in line with Government guidance. This includes meat, fish, essential household supplies and pet food. This is helping to reduce the burden on supermarkets and provides some local resilience for communities. We are instructing traders and members of the public to follow social distancing advice.
We mentioned the relaxation of parking charges in the city centre yesterday – there’s more details on the arrangements available here
I love the sound of #clapforourcarers, which is a chance for everyone to show their appreciation for our wonderful NHS workers who are right on the frontline of this crisis. Tomorrow at 8pm people are being encouraged to applaud, from their gardens, front doors, balconies and living rooms, to show how much people working in the health service mean to us all, especially at times like this. I’ll be joining in and I imagine thousands of Nottingham folk will too.
I was asked to write an article by the Nottingham Post, which appeared in the paper today. It was written last week before the Government lockdown was imposed, and outlines the steep learning curve I’ve had since taking on responsibility for emergency planning at the council. You can read it here.