Spaces for People: Town Centre Safe Social Distancing. Survey on proposals.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created a national health emergency unlike anything any of us have seen before. As part of the recovery of our businesses and communities, Argyll and Bute Council has successfully applied for funding from the Scottish Government to support the reallocation of some of the limited space within our town centres to help everyone safely social distance and feel safe when they visit our town centres.
This funding will allow for temporary changes to be made in our town centres, creating space to help everyone to safely socially distance. The measures we are proposing to put in place are designed to be temporary, for as long as we have to deal with COVID-19, and focus on protecting public health, supporting physical distancing and helping everyone to feel safe when using our town centres. We expect our proposals will help shops and businesses as they reopen, and allow everyone to feel confident that they can visit our town centres safely.
Before putting anything in place, we want to consult with local businesses, communities and residents on our proposals. We are looking for your views on our proposals for temporary changes to town centres, prior to the council moving forward with installation in the coming weeks.
We have developed temporary proposals for seven town centres:
- Campbeltown
- Dunoon
- Helensburgh
- Lochgilphead
- Oban
- Rothesay
- Tobermory
The survey also provides an opportunity to provide input in relation to other locations which we have not yet developed options for.
The survey is open from Thursday 16 July to Sunday 26 July 2020 and we invite you to have your say. The survey can be found at www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/consultations/spaces-people-engagement-survey
In addition to the temporary measures, we plan to use some of the funding to set up around 15 cycle repair stations in main towns, on key routes and at selected tourist destinations across Argyll and Bute. These stations will provide basic repair tools, which members of the public can use when needed. These stations are widely found in public spaces elsewhere in Scotland, including university and college campuses, at tourist destinations and on popular cycle routes. The cycle repair stations will help promote cycle tourism and the use of bicycles more generally for leisure and commuter users. We plan that the repair stations will remain once the COVID-19 situation ends.
The funding for these temporary changes is from the Spaces for People programme, administered by SUSTRANS on behalf of Scottish Government.