Day 10 of Lockdown
Our day 10 report starts with an update on NEEB’s appeal. After that, we put together two reports found online yesterday. Essex Police had noted there had been an uptick in cars on roads and Essex County Council (coincidentally?) gave advice on how to avoid car use.
On the subject of Essex Police, they paid a surprise visit to the allotments yesterday. The last item is The Police offering advice about social distancing in a musical form. 🙂
Before we move on, a gentle reminder about NO BONFIRES please to protect kids with asthma; recycling collections will resume eventually so please hold your Green waste until then or use the CSH service for recyclables. So, on to the NEEB update:
Planning Inspectorate Update
It seems that the Planning Inspectorates enquiry into the NEEB Holdings application has been postponed until further notice. They have released the following statement:
In order to limit the spread of the Coronavirus (Covid-19), we are following Government advice on social distancing and avoiding non-essential travel. We have therefore postponed all casework events in the near future including site visits, hearings and inquiries. We will make new arrangements as soon as possible.
NEEB had written to the Secretary of State in August last year who overturned the decision and gave NEEB an opportunity to resubmit to the Planning Inspectorate.
Essex Police Visit Allotments
Essex Police visited the allotments on Wednesday following a resident’s report of excessive social gathering. On attending the 2 police officers quietly observed to 20 or so plot holders present. After doing so they then spoke to about 10 and assured them that nothing was out of order; indeed they acknowledged that the Allotments Committee had ensured appropriate guidance and notices were clearly in place and being observed.
Essex County Council Advice on Car Tavel
We are asking you not to get in your cars to visit more distant beauty spots, but instead explore your immediate local area and use the local green spaces and footpaths in close proximity to your home. Do not travel unnecessarily.
Why not find out what’s right on your doorstep to enjoy for your once-daily exercise, for instance:
- green spaces whether they be woods, marshes, commons green etc.
- local footpaths, cycleways and bridleways.
- the sea, a river or a canal, these often have paths running along them or seafronts.
- beaches can offer huge open spaces at low tide in particular.
- local history sites such as churches, castles, forts or ancient burial mounds offer a different historical perspective on your area.
How To Find Places to Walk
But how do you find out where to go and check out if you are allowed to visit? Here are some tips!
There are some simple ways to find out about walking, running and cycling in your area:
- Search ‘walking and cycling in your local areas’ on the internet and usually a variety of options will come up.
- You can look at the Ordnance Survey Map, which you can buy online and locally, on which accessible areas and footpaths are shown. OS maps have huge amounts of local information about recreation sites, historical monuments etc. – such as OS Greenspace – getoutside-ordnancesurvey.co.uk/greenspaces.
- Look on Google Maps and find walks and opens spaces there.
- You can look up the history of your immediate area and sites like Wikipedia will show pictures of historic buildings, people and features which you can step out and see.
- If you enter nature of your village or town, local nature reserves and wildlife sites will be shown
- Find out about local parks, open spaces at www.gov.uk/find-your-local-park.
- Try an evening/night walk if it’s safe to do so and enjoy the night sky – the roads and paths may be less busy too.
- Finally, wash your hands as soon as you get home.
Maintain Social Distancing
Of course while doing any of this you should continue “social distancing” from anyone you do not live with when out exercising, making room for people to pass on paths and not moving within two metres of each other. Please follow Government guidance on accessing green spaces.
Most places we live do have interesting walks or cycles, but we are all guilty of travelling to somewhere else to visit when we often have great places right on our immediate doorsteps!
Remember, in any given day, you can still only go outside for one form of exercise, such as a walk, a run or a cycle, if you’re well enough and as long as you’re on your own, or with members of your household.
The Police – Don’t Stand So Close To Me
This should be our temporary anthem and it’s taken until day 10 to find it!