I feel compelled to email you in the hope you can raise awareness through your newspaper, of the amount of local people not complying with the lockdown that has been put in place.
I live opposite the Vernatt’s riverbank off Woolram Wygate, Spalding, and am astounded by how many people including many neighbours, that are not adhering to the ‘rules’.
In a one-hour period I counted 118 walking, riding, individuals, groups of people, along the small stretch of riverbank opposite my house.
We’ve had people parking opposite the actual road junction, getting out and then going for a dog walk.
There have been groups of road bike riders, all kitted out in their Lycra and helmets, bombing along, the same dog walkers going out time after time, indeed a neighbour takes their dog out six to eight times a day (that’s just him, his wife also takes it out) as well as going out in his car three to four times a day and he’s not working!
Another neighbour has a relative come visit every day (not in same household), she stays all afternoon, not standing at end of the drive for a chat or to drop off shopping, no, she stays all day before trundling off in her car again, to do it all again the next day and the next.
We have neighbours who have even had friends round for barbecues!
Due to how many people are on the riverbank, my husband and I take our daily 40-minute walk on the pavements. We walk around the block, passing Monkshouse Park, up Pennygate and then back past the Co-op off Woolram Wygate.
Not a day goes by when there isn’t a family with children playing ball on the grassed areas outside the closed playgrounds, I’ve seen groups sitting on blankets, playing basketball, frisbee etc and today there were children with adults on Monkshouse Park with cones marked out, playing football.
As we walked towards the convenience store down Pennygate, there was car after car pulling up, people coming out with just a newspaper, single can of drink, one even came out with a bunch of flowers – all totally unnecessary purchases surely?
Now I believe a lot of the neighbours I’m seeing breaking the rules (and this is factual, not generalised) are eastern European, so I’ve raised the question to both local police and local councillor Roger Gambba-Jones, that would it not be a good idea to translate Boris Johnson’s letter, and the basic lockdown rules into say, five locally spoken languages, and either leaflet drop or even as a double page spread in your newspaper, so that at least those members of the public who cannot read English or have a poor understanding of it, then have a clearer understanding of the expectations?
I was told “the police are always severely over-stretched with actual criminal activity” and “given that the police are the only ones with the enforcement powers, there really is little else that we, as a council can do”.
Before anyone reading this thinks I’m overreacting or just being interfering, I’m not, I’m raising this issue as here I am, a key worker, I’ve worked through one of my Easter holiday weeks, looking after other key workers’ children.
I have four grandchildren, three of whom live in an overcrowded flat in this town. They aren’t going up the park, I’m not going round there for cuddles with the three-month-old, or to help the other two with home learning?
I’m going shopping once a week for myself and my daughter who doesn’t drive, I drop the food off at her front door.
I don’t understand why so many people around me are unable to do the same?
And on a Thursday, I go out and clap my hands sore for the wonderful NHS – many of my neighbours don’t even do this!
Today on the news its been announced that car travel has shot up, yes it certainly felt like it was an ordinary pre-COVID-19 Saturday today, cars and people everywhere!
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