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* Signs urging people to observe social distancing
will go up this week, says the area's Senedd Member. |
Member of the Senedd for Clwyd South Ken Skates says signs urging people in
Llangollen to adhere to social distancing will be put up in the town centre
this week.
Mr Skates contacted Denbighshire County Council’s chief executive
on Monday after receiving emails from concerned local residents over the
weekend.
This week Llangollen councillors Austin Cheminais and Mel Mile
have also been out in the town centre encouraging people to sign a petition
urging the council to urgently put in place social distancing measures along
Castle Street.
Mr Skates said: “I had a number of emails over the
weekend from residents who are concerned about the number of people not
distancing and acting as if the rules put in place to keep us all safe don’t
apply to them.
"I know there are a lot of other people who share their concerns
and I applaud what our local councillors have been doing this week. I’d also
like to thank Cllr Graham Timms, who I know has raised this issue a number of
times with Denbighshire.
“I raised this urgently with the chief executive of Denbighshire
County Council first thing on Monday morning and asked for more signs to be
placed in and around the town to remind people of their responsibilities.
"I’m
pleased that these will now be installed this week and I’m grateful to the
chief executive for responding to me so quickly and positively.”
Cllr Austin Cheminais said: “We’ve had more than 100 people sign
letters to the council in three mornings, so I’m glad Denbighshire is now going
to do something.
“The Welsh Government, scientists and health
experts have repeatedly said how important social distancing is in preventing the
spread of coronavirus. I’m pleased we have been able to make a difference and
look forward to the signs going up as soon as possible followed by widening of
the pavements to make the town centre safer.”
Mr Skates added: “It’s important to remember that coronavirus
hasn’t gone away. The pandemic remains first and foremost a public health
crisis and the Welsh Government’s priority from the outset has been to preserve
lives. We have been cautiously reopening businesses and towns, but we can only
continue to do so if everyone does their bit and follows the rules.”
In response to Mr Skates, county council chief executive Judith
Greenhalgh said: “Social distancing signage is due to be introduced in
Llangollen town centre at the end of this week.
“Please note that we also have proposals to temporarily widen the
pavement on Castle Street through the removal of the on-street parking.
"This
proposal is being funded by the WG Covid 19 Sustainable Transport grant and has
recently been consulted upon. We are currently reviewing the consultation
responses before a final decision on whether to proceed with the project is
made.
“Over recent weeks we have been deploying officers in each of our
towns to help provide guidance for businesses and to keep an eye on social
distancing problems on pavements, with a view to developing solutions where
problems are occurring. Understandably the start of the school summer holidays
has seen a big increase in visitor numbers.
“We will speak to our colleagues at North Wales Police to raise
concerns about the issues of members of the public not adhering to social
distancing and not practising good hygiene.”
