Caerphilly Council pressing ahead with plans to implement social distancing measures in local town centres following the First Ministers announcement giving the green light for non-essential businesses to reopen.
Local town centres will see the installation of signage and other measures put in to make local town centres a safe space for shoppers.
The authority is also encouraging residents to ‘shop local’ by temporarily waiving charges at town centre Pay and Display car parks until the end of the year.
Cllr Philippa Marsden, Leader of the council said, “We anticipated that this message would come and we welcome the reopening our town centres. The timescales of the announcement and the reopening are tight however a lot of work has been going on behind the scenes to ensure towns are gearing up for the reopening. It is vital that we continue to support our local retailers to help them recover from this hugely challenging time. As I mentioned before I’m sure our decision to offer temporary free parking will also be widely welcomed and provide a real boost for businesses.”
The measures that will be put in place will help residents shop safely, these include; new signage, social distance markings, ‘one way’ pedestrian routes where appropriate and other arrangements to encourage the public to look after their own health and wellbeing by maintaining social distancing.
Cllr Sean Morgan, Deputy Leader of Council said, “It is pleasing to see how much progress we have made already preparing town centres to reopen ahead of today’s announcement. Work will comence to implement safety measures over the coming weeks as we see more retailers opening their doors and residents returning to our high streets. We will continue to do all that we can to support the business community to trade safely.”
Civil Parking Enforcement is now back in operation and officers will play a key role in ensuring that our roads and town centres are kept safe and unobstructed in order to support the reopening of town centres. Parking will be free at all council-owned pay and display car parks for the rest of the year, with the reintroduction of charges planned for January 2021.
