This note provides an update on the information posted on this blog on Monday (11.5.20).
Key messages for today
- Our household waste recycling centres reopened earlier today (Friday, May 15). Only visit them if you really need to, and stick to the rules.
- Please don’t drive to our parks this weekend. Welsh Government has made it clear that in Wales, people should continue to exercise locally.
- We’ll be trialling the use of ‘Zoom’ to run committee meetings.
Ian Bancroft – Chief Executive
Mark Pritchard – Leader of the Council
Before you visit our recycling centres…
Our household waste recycling centres reopened earlier today (Friday, May 15).
The sites were closed in early April as part of the council’s response to Covid-19, but following some small changes to lockdown in Wales, we’ve been able to reopen them.
Coronavirus has brought huge disruption to daily life, and lots of people will be pleased to see them open again.
However, if you’re itching to load-up the car and get down there, please stop for a moment and consider this…
- Info -
- Even though the sites have reopened, you should only visit them if you really need to.
- If you do visit, you must follow the 10 strict rules we’ve implemented.
In fact, we’ve had to close our Brymbo site early today due to demand and traffic queues.
Due to traffic, we’ve closed Brymbo waste recycling centre earlier than planned. The site will remain closed until we’ve reviewed things next week. Bryn Lane and Plas Madoc sites remain open, but please only visit if it’s absolutely essential.
— Wrexham Council (@wrexhamcbc) May 15, 2020
So please continue to follow the lockdown rules in Wales, only visit the recycling centres if you really need to, and follow the rules when you’re there.
Remember…it’s all about saving lives, and protecting the NHS.
Stay at home this weekend
There are slight differences between lockdown rules in Wales and England at the moment.
And as we head into the weekend, it’s important that nobody gets confused.
Here in Wales, the ‘stay at home’ message is still in place.
And although you can now leave home to exercise more than once a day, Welsh Government has made it clear that people should continue to exercise in their local area.
So please don’t be tempted to drive to one of our parks to walk the dog or go for a run etc. It’s still not ok to do that.
Stay local.
GET THE LATEST COVID-19 INFORMATION FROM PUBLIC HEALTH WALES
Council meetings
Like most councils, we’ve been looking at ways to start holding committee meetings again.
Meetings were cancelled in late March as part of our response to Covid-19, and in line with councils across the UK.
One of the biggest challenges is social distancing, as meetings tend to take place ‘in person’ – with councillors, council staff and other people gathering in one room.
But guidance issued last month has allowed councils to look at ways to hold key meetings again.
As a result, we’re going to use the enterprise version of ‘Zoom’ – a popular conferencing app – to hold three ‘virtual’ meetings:
- Audit Committee – May 28
- Executive Board – June 9
- Planning Committee – June 22
As far as practicalities and the technology allows, we’ll be aiming to run these meetings in the normal way – including how the meetings are chaired, questions taken and so on.
We won’t live-stream to begin with, but to aid transparency, we’ll invite local media to observe online.
We’ll then post a public recording online as soon as we can afterwards.
This is going to be a massive learning curve for us, and these initial meetings will help us find our feet…so we’re eventually able to live-stream the proceedings.
Like all councils, we’re having to quickly get to grips with new technology and new ways of doing things.
But we think this approach will give us a way to allow key debates and decisions to take place, while keeping everyone safe.
Reminder – reliable sources of information about Covid-19
Latest information on the virus and what people should do about it is provided by:
- Daily TV statements by the Government (including by Government ministers) at around 5pm.
- Daily statements by Welsh Government at around 12.30pm.
- Daily official briefings from the Department of Health and Social Care at 2pm, and Public Health Wales at 3pm.
Read the most up-to-date information about Covid-19.
LATEST INFO ON COVID-19
