Town set for reopening on Monday – Council say “The plans put in place take into account the safety of both staff and customers”

Non essential retail shops in Wrexham town centre are set to reopen from Monday, with visitors told ‘the town centre will also look different’.

Wrexham Council have said, “We know how important this is. These last few months have been incredibly difficult for so many businesses, and we need people to support our town and ‘shop local’ while staying safe.”

We asked Wrexham Council in early June what practical steps were being taken to prepare for the reopening, which had been trailed by Welsh Government in their regular 3 weekly reviews. That was followed with plans being firmed up over the last couple of weeks by Wrexham Council, with some presented to the Town Centre Forum last week, and some signed off late this week.

Locally we have been told that some at Wrexham Council feel they had been ‘caught cold’ with yesterday’s lunchtime announcement on reopening, which was first firmly known about on Thursday evening, with an ongoing frustration that the first councils know of announcements is when it is given from a podium in Cardiff. We have also been told of a senior local view that ‘three days notice’ from Welsh Government was not enough for plans to be rolled out, and that a longer softer reopening could be on the cards as a result.

Eyebrows have also been raised politically from inside the administration of Wrexham Council at a very swift announcement by Flintshire Council following the First Minister’s statement, where they detailed a number of changes including signs, widened pavements and other pandemic responses.

Yesterday we noted the comments about three days notice being enough to the First Minister, and asked if councils should be ready to play their part from Monday, or, was a period of softer opening what he had envisaged.

The First Minister told us, “They certainly not had three days, they’ve had three weeks because I announced it from this platform three weeks ago.”

“Local authorities do have a part to play of course in making sure the public realm is ready and one of the reasons why I think we will see a gradual reopening of non essential retail in Wales is because in some parts of Wales, there is still some more to be done to make sure the public realm is safe and can support that reopening, but local authorities have a part to play.”

“I’ve said before that I think our local authorities have made an enormous contribution over the last three months and there’s a contribution for them to make now in making sure that non essential retail can reopen, and reopen everywhere in Wales, and to do so in a way that is safe.”

The news to carefully re-open non-essential shops has been welcomed by Lead Member for Economic Development, Cllr Terry Evans, who commented “This is excellent news for our traders who have been understandably worried about their businesses since they were shutdown in March. It means they can once again open for business and we have been planning for this event over the past few weeks.”

“However, we have to bear in mind the guidelines that are still in place as no-one in Wrexham, or in Wales, can travel over 5 miles for non-essential travel which means numbers visiting are not expected to be extremely high in the first couple of weeks.”

“This will give traders time to adjust to their new safe way of trading and be ready for when the 5 mile restriction is lifted which is expected to be in July. We also all have to bear in mind that the Coronavirus pandemic is not over yet and may not be for some considerable time so plans will be reviewed regularly amended where required to ensure public health is not compromised whilst visiting the town centre.”

“The plans put in place take into account the safety of both staff and customers which remains a priority and we’ve been working with stores to make sure this can happen. The town centre will also look different and a one way system will be put into place on Bank Street as social distancing cannot take place in such a narrow street.”

“I would like to thank our traders and our own staff who have worked extremely hard to make sure the town centre opens safely for visitors and staff alike.”

The expectation of low visitor numbers is at odds with information from one business owner in the town centre, who on their first day of reopening their business in recent days has told us their takings were ‘like Christmas’ and 166% up on a formally normal day. In England several towns, cities and retail parks have had long queues in the first few days of reopening as people flocked back to stores after weeks of lockdown.

Wrexham Council have detailed changes the public will see:

• Signage reminding everyone that Welsh Government Coronavirus guidelines must be adhered to
• Social distancing signs and floor markings.
• Social Distancing Wardens will patrol the town at various intervals reminding visitors of the government guidelines.
• All town centre cleaning will be updated in line with council risk assessments and national emerging guidance and working practices may change in the future.
• Click and collect parking on High Street

Town centre car parking in council owned car parks remains free until the end of September.

Wrexham Council went on to say last night, “Today (Friday) we received an indication from the Welsh Government that regulations will be introduced to keep Wales Safe at work in retail givings further guidance on indoor retail spaces which means we will be able to open the General and Butchers Markets and Ty Pawb very soon.”

“The Council are also looking at re-opening public toilets which will adhere to the guidelines and again, we hope this will happen very soon.”

Wrexham town centre effectively starts to reopen from Monday. Stay safe while supporting your town centre.