Day 28 of Lockdown

On day 28 we have news of the first batch of scrubs being sent to Colchester Hospital. Louise Seager has now produced 11 sets! Well done Louise, you managed to enjoy the sun as well!

In other news, we have road maintenance, CBC staff redeployment & My Sharona Parody.

Road Maintenance

ECC reported today that road maintenance has been ruled as a necessity during the current lockdown and Essex Highways has been playing its part. Crews have been out every day to mend potholes and repair other defects including mending streetlamps, traffic signals, white lines and signs. All this has been done while ensuring engineers follow the current self-distancing rules. Urgent response crews have been working at night and weekends.

Crews will soon be starting the resurfacing and redressing work to hundreds of miles of the county’s road network and preparing carriageways for next winter.

Traffic has dramatically decreased since the outbreak of the virus and this has allowed Essex Highways teams to work with little interruption. Essex Highways is using this time to work because without continued maintenance the condition of the roads would quickly deteriorate. Clearly, roads must be kept safe and open where that is practical.

Colchester BC Staff Redeployed

Nearly 50 workers at CBC have taken up temporary new roles, to support key services during lockdown. Staff who usually work in services that have had to curb their normal operations due to the Government’s social distancing restrictions, have taken on new challenges to help keep the council running.

Staff from museums, Leisure World, parking enforcement and a variety of other council departments are now offering their skills and experience to support front line operations – from Helpline and Neighbourhood Services, to bereavement services and help getting much needed government grants out to businesses as swiftly as possible.

Twenty-five NEPP staff have been redeployed to help community patrols, with others assisting Community360 as it delivers vital supplies to vulnerable residents. A further seven council workers have been redeployed to work in homeless shelters.