Now that we are easing out of lockdown, there is the usual summer buzz about the parish. This is a welcome relief for many and a great boost for our local economy. Many local residents though are concerned about the sudden influx of visitors which is making our streets and at times the beach quite crowded. The Parish Council is working with traders to put in place measures to encourage social distancing and keep everyone safe. We’ve restarted meetings for small project teams and held our first virtual Full Council meeting this week which was remarkably successful.
The Beach, Cliffs and Parks
Our 3 Beach Officers started patrolling as normal on 1st July and will be in place till the end of August. They have been very busy giving advice, making sure dogs are on leads where required and helping to locate lost children. They have been regularly sanitising the handrails on the bridges onto the beach.
Droskyn toilets will be opened next week. We have experienced long delays in delivery of new doors and windows due to lockdown, and the refitting has to be coordinated with anti-vandal works as well as repairing the damage inside. These will be up and running again very soon once the work is completed, site-deep cleaned and hand sanitisers installed.
It’s great to have the play equipment open again. Visitors to Bolenna Park have been enjoying the newly installed play equipment and this will be joined very soon by gym equipment as well as a table tennis table – with another table tennis table to be installed in Goonhavern Park.
Streets and library
The streets have become quite busy and cones introduced to widen the pavements have been working extremely well. There are street markings encourage social distancing and new signage will be in place this week.
The Police Crime Commissioner, Alison Hernandez has provided funding for us and a small handful of communities in Cornwall for a 10-week period over the summer to help deal with anti-social behaviour. We worked with Cornwall Council to put together a package of measures comprising increased monitoring of our new CCTV system, an additional CCTV camera at the Boating Lake which has been installed this week and the allocation of street marshals to give advice and generally help to keep the peace. These guys started last weekend and were very well received by locals, many of whom stopped to talk to them and thank them for having a presence and making the place safer.
Perranporth Library re-opened on 4th July. Local book worms have been delighted that they can swap over their lockdown books for a new set of reading materials. At the moment this is still operating on a ‘click-and-collect’ basis with books reserved beforehand online and books handed over at the entrance. In September we are hoping that you will be able to actually come into the library to browse at safe distances.
Stay safe everyone!