Issue details

The purpose of this report is to set out the Council’s Public Spaces Recovery Plan in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Council’s Public Spaces Recovery Plan forms part of a Recovery Framework which will be presented to the Executive on 3rd August 2020.

The plan has been produced in accordance with the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Safer Public Places – Urban Centres and Green Spaces guidance that was published by HM Government on 13 May 2020.  The guidance document provides a framework for identifying the issues associated with the use of public spaces considering the need for social distancing. It focuses primarily on urban centres and green spaces which are likely to have high footfall.

The report focuses on the impact of the pandemic on urban and green spaces in the Borough, and highlights actions that the Council, and others, have taken to enable people to safely use public spaces.

Government has provided Councils across England with a share of £50m of additional funding to support the safe reopening of high streets and other commercial areas. The money allows local authorities in England to put in place additional measures to establish a safe trading environment for businesses and customers, particularly in high streets, through measures that extend to the end of March 2021.

Fareham Borough Council has been allocated a grant of £103,270 which comes from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The Fund will particularly focus on high streets, as well as other public places that are at the heart of towns and cities gearing up to reopen as safe, welcoming spaces. Most of the details of how this will be allocated in Fareham will be included in the Economic Recovery Plan.