With the Governments’ roadmap out of lockdown in England published for all to navigate, what are the potential greenlights and bottlenecks that this signals for town centre place managers and businesses?
The initial analysis undertaken by the People & Places Partnership of the lockdown roadmap’s greenlights and bottlenecks, indicates that town centre place managers and businesses will have to be very adaptable as the milestones come in to view.
Short-lived investments in safer high streets
Measures set-out by government previously in advice on safer public places as well as sector-specific guidance, summarised in People & Places downloadable checklist on managing streets & public spaces in 2020, will, it seems, come sharply in to view before quickly fading in the rear-view mirror. This means that some necessary investments eligible for funding through the government’s reopening high streets safely fund, will by necessity be short-lived.
Key roadmap milestones
Key milestones and the lockdown roadmap’s greenlights and bottlenecks for place managers and businesses to look-out for and adapt to include:
Step 1 – March 8th & 29th
- increased potential for clusters of people congregating in queues & informally with refreshments.
- potential for streets & public spaces in popular destinations such as coastal towns to be busy, especially over Easter period.
Step 2 (scheduled for April 12th)
- need to manage on-street queues & in-store social distancing as per summer 2020.
- creation & careful management of on-site & on-street hospitality & informal clustering for take-outs.
Step 3 (scheduled for May 17th)
- with most legal restrictions on meeting outdoors lifted, initial investment in the management of streets and public spaces is likely to become unnecessary or unmanageable.
- emphasis will switch to businesses & attractions managing social distancing indoors including drinking with table service in pubs.
- for first time during the pandemic, there will be a need to manage streets & public spaces around large venues as well as social distancing within them.
Step 4 (scheduled for June 21st)
- use of streets & public spaces will be largely unfettered, in-business social distancing ended & managed events allowed.
Tracking changing public opinion
Managing these changes physically on the ground in town centres at an accelerating pace will be challenging for place managers as the lockdown roadmap’s greenlights and bottlenecks approach and pass. It will also be helpful to keep a watchful eye on changing public sentiment. At key points there will concern expressed by residents feeling overwhelmed by an influx of visitors for example, whilst others may demonstrate an increasing reluctance to abide by the rules of the road as the journey seemingly approaches its destinations. People & Places will continue to help by tracking national trends as public opinion evolves as the journey to summer reopening of our town and city centres continues.
If all goes to plan, town centre place managers & businesses will be able to take a bow, though not a break, from mid-June, when a near-normal summer season will hopefully be upon us.
For more information
Download the People & Places Partnership’s summary of the roadmap out of lockdown’s greenlights and bottlenecks.
For practical guidance on COVID-19 recovery and the long-term transformation of town an city centres, take a look at the Local Government Association’s national revitalising town centres on-line toolkit prepared by People & Places. This toolkit includes case studies of good practice from place managers in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic including Oxford’s on-street alfresco hospitality; Leamington’s safe & welcoming reopening; Solihull’s place leadership; tracking Nuneaton’s footfall through the pandemic; reopening hospitality in Westminster; reopening & revitalising Selby and reopening East Suffolk.
For up-to-date information on how place managers and town partnerships can respond to the COVID-19 crisis, keep an eye on the beyond COVID-19 page of this web site, which includes links to People & Places’ downloadable checklist on managing streets & public spaces in 2020 and updates on tracking national trends in adapting for recovery.
