Friday, June 19, 2020

First Minister’s business announcement a “step in the right direction” says county chief

The Leader of Denbighshire, Councillor Hugh Evans OBE has issued a statement in response to the announcement by First Minister Mark Drakeford MS that non-essential retail businesses can re-open from Monday, hailing the announcement as a “step in the right direction”.

This comes as the Council sets up a Task Group to look at ways of assisting town centres to continue operating during these times.

Councillor Evans said: “This is welcome news, not only for the businesses concerned, but also for the local economy.

“The lockdown has had a significant impact on businesses locally and in every other region of the country and many had called on Welsh Government to relax the regulations, to allow the non-essential retail businesses to re-open and start that journey of recovery.

“This is only the beginning for businesses and we would urge them to implement social distancing and hygiene measures, protect the well-being of their customers and play their part in reducing the spread of coronavirus in our communities.

“Today’s announcement is very much a step in the right direction and the Council will work together with businesses and communities to make this work and assist our towns and villages.

“The Council’s Task Group has been set up specifically to assist town centres as they respond to the easing of the lockdown restrictions.  Staff will be working in the main towns to provide help and advice to residents and businesses; they will identify where posters and signage are needed and will look at what support is needed for businesses to comply with the current social distancing and hygiene regulations”.

Councillor Mark Young, Cabinet Lead Member for  Planning, Public Protection and Safer Communities, said: “We fully recognise that businesses in our town centres have suffered during the covid-19 outbreak and the Council wants to support businesses in any way it can, to help them get back on their feet during these very difficult times.  We will be talking and listening to businesses and residents and see what kind of help is needed in terms of advice and support, as well as more practical measures such as posters and signage. 

“We look forward to getting the staff out into these communities and start a real dialogue with people, so that we can assist town centres to settle into the new ways of working and assisting the efforts to protect our communities”.

The Welsh Government has produced guidance and templates for businesses:
https://gov.wales/workplace-guidance-employers-and-employees-covid19

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