By the time you read this we should know what tier our area has been placed in following the end of the national lockdown on December 2nd. Given the relatively low infection rates for the pandemic locally and the excellent way Worthing Hospital is handling cases I would hope that we will remain in the lowest risk level allowing local people and businesses to catch up for lost time and livelihoods in the run up to Christmas. As we have seen in other parts of the country this position can turn around very quickly, so we all need to continue to be as vigilant as ever.
Along with most people, I particularly welcome the opening up of physical activities again, outdoors, in gyms and swimming pools. It has also been unfair to penalise specialist ‘non-essential shops’ whilst supermarkets and garden centres stay open often selling some of the same goods and hoovering up their trade. I for one will be making an extra effort this year to support local independent shops as much as possible.
Whilst the hospitality trade continues to bear the brunt of the lockdown restrictions the reopening of pubs will be a lifesaver in the run up to Christmas and it is right that the nonsensical 10pm chuck-out rule has been dropped which often resulted in bottlenecks of customers spilling out on to the streets all at once. As I have said all along, if we are to expect people to follow these incursions into our civil liberties, they need to be logical and consistent and properly explained. Telling people to exercise and keep fit on the one hand whilst banning golf which is the most naturally socially distanced outside sport going never made sense, which is one of the reasons I voted against the full-blown lockdown.
Closing gyms after the extensive investment measures they had invested in to make their premises safe also made no sense and they provide a vital service to all ages not just for physical health but mental health and combating loneliness and isolation too. Not surprisingly a debate on just this subject in Parliament on Monday was so oversubscribed by likeminded MPs that I didn’t get on the list to speak.
On the subject of gyms, all things being equal it looks as though a new operator will be in place to reopen the former Impulse leisure centres and swimming pool in Adur before Easter which is a great relief. I am pleased to report too that we are making progress with providing an alternative to the Stepping Stones Nursery at the Fishersgate Family Centre which closes at Christmas. I met 2 new providers interested in setting up a new nursery in the area on Friday and negotiations are underway with the County Council.
Last week I also arranged a further meeting of the working group on the replacement health centre for the Pond Road site where the old Burrscroft home has been demolished. Bringing together the three parties involved on the site, the County Council, Adur Council and various manifestations of the NHS was never going to be easy and work has inevitably been delayed by the pandemic but we are making progress and I hope to report further in the New Year.
