Four point plan for safer town centres

Hertfordshire County Council recently made some changes in a number of town centres across the county to allow for greater social distancing for pedestrians. The Directors of Public Health and Environment & Infrastructure have written a letter to residents explaining why they have made these changes and the plans going forward. You can view the letter below and also online.

Dear residents,

We are writing to you as Director of Public Health and Director of Environment & Infrastructure in Hertfordshire regarding the safe street space schemes that Hertfordshire County Council in partnership with the local District, Borough and Town Councils and BIDs (Business Improvement Districts) have put in place.

As you will know, the highways teams have had to make changes to the road layout outside of your home. This is as a result of a directive from central government and is being done in order to encourage and facilitate social distancing. This is an essential public health need to help keep our communities safe.

The new layout is designed to assist all residents and businesses who are open and trading already, so that as the traffic levels and the number of shoppers increase, we can all safely move around. It is also ahead of wider retail opening anticipated in mid- June, to encourage shoppers back to the town centres and other key shopping areas.

We have had to work at pace initially, which has meant we did not have the time to run public consultations or publicise these changes in the ways we would normally do. However, in order to support our towns, shops and business, the street space in Hertfordshire is being changed to keep our residents safe.

There are four phases to the changes, outlined below, and we would very much like your help in creating safe street spaces.

• Stage 1: Changes; This may mean closing parking bays, making roads one way, closing streets and asking shoppers to change their usual pattern of navigation.
  Your understanding and support would be greatly appreciated. If you think an adaptation could be improved we are very happy to hear about it and can reassure you we will be listening to your feedback and adapting the street space measures. You can feedback by using the Highways contact form.
• Stage 2: Compliance; Public health posters, signage and following feedback, further changes to street space.
  Signage will be appearing around the town and on bus shelters. This has been developed by behavioural scientists to encourage compliance and will be used consistently across the county. Again your feedback is vital and valued, you can contact us directly.
• Stage 3: Confidence; Preparation ahead of non-essential shops reopening from mid June.
  Ahead of wider opening we hope businesses will have the confidence that their customers will be able to shop safely and will comply to any socially distancing measures needed to remain safe.
• Stage 4: Comeback; Revitalize the high-street – encourage special events.
  If the ‘R’ rate remains under 1 we would hope to see more events to support the come back of town centres.

Yours faithfully,

Jim McManus, Director of Public Health, Hertfordshire County Council
Mark Kemp, Director of Environment & Infrastructure, Hertfordshire County Council