Gedling Borough Council has made the decision to close all of its play areas, cafes and public toilets to try and limit the spread of coronavirus.
This tough decision follows reports of high visitor numbers attending over the weekend and a number of visitors not adhering to social distancing guidance.
The council’s parks and open spaces will stay open for now but the council has said this decision is under constant review and if people fail to adhere to the two metre social distancing advice from Public Health England, they will be left with no option but to close all parks and open spaces in order to protect those most at risk and the elderly.
The cafe at Gedling Country Park will be closed from today and will stay closed for the foreseeable future.
The council is responsible for over 40 parks containing children’s equipment across the borough.
The council is also advising residents not to visit the council’s offices in Arnot Hill Park and to access online services instead or call the customer services team instead (0115 901 3901) to help reduce the spread of the virus. Residents should only visit the offices if they are unable to use the internet or phone in and it is an urgent request for help, assistance or support.
Leader of Gedling Borough Council, Councillor John Clarke said: “We have taken the difficult decision to close our children’s play areas, public toilets and skate parks across the borough in order to help prevent the spread of coronavirus to our most at risk and elderly residents.
This weekend we saw a high number of visitors to our parks and play areas, and whilst we understand that there is advice for people to exercise and go outdoors, a significant number of people were not taking adhering to the social distancing measures advised by government, giving us no choice but to close them.
The social distancing advice is there for a reason – people are falling ill and people with underlying health conditions are dying as a result of the continued transmission of the virus. It is absolutely imperative to minimise the contact people have with one another in order to slow the continuing trend.
We will keep the situation under review on daily basis and I’m afraid if people do not follow the social distancing advice of keeping two metres apart, which has been issued by the government, we will be left with no option but to close all our parks and open spaces as well.”
