As more businesses look to reopen their doors from 4 July, Dorset Council is working with town and parish councils, and alongside Dorset Police, to ensure the safety of residents and visitors across the county while social distancing measures remain in place.
To support the reopening of pubs, cafes and restaurants, the Government has issued guidance recommending additional sitting out areas for hospitality businesses and asking highways authorities to control the use of available space effectively and safely.
As a priority, Dorset Council has been working with town and parish councils to identify areas with a concentration of bars and restaurants that have sitting-out licences, as well as being heavily used by pedestrians and vehicles.
Such mixed-use areas will present a significant challenge for maintaining health and safety and social distancing, even with restrictions reducing to 1m-plus.
Cllr Ray Bryan, Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and Environment, said: “Although large social gatherings are still not permitted, it is anticipated that residents and visitors will take advantage of the opportunity to dine-out and socialise more widely.
“We also expect more businesses will be applying for sitting-out licences and the Government has made this process much more streamlined.
“This is not a licence to party, but a small, positive step for the hospitality industry to start welcoming customers back safely. We will be carefully monitoring any temporary highway measures that we put in place to provide additional space for social distancing and we won’t hesitate to change them if problems start to arise.”
The first set of temporary measures to support the safe return of hospitality businesses will be introduced along Weymouth harbourside.
Custom House Quay and Trinity Road, which run along the harbour, provide access to the working harbour, are home to many residents and host many hospitality-based businesses.
Working with Weymouth Town Council and harbourside businesses, Dorset Council has agreed a temporary 12-week period where Custom House Quay will be closed to traffic each day from 10.30am to 9pm.
Parking will be suspended within the closure – between East Street and Town Bridge – to provide the additional space needed to maintain social distancing within the sitting-out areas and busy pedestrian environment.
The closure will be manned to allow access by the land train, at walking pace, through the area. Residents with parking permits will be able to park around Alexandra Gardens and on Pilgrims Way.
Access to the fish loading quay and businesses east of East Street is unaffected by these temporary measures. The southern end of Maiden Street will become two-way to facilitate deliveries at the other end of the closure.
Trinity Road will see a similar set of temporary measures put in place, including the road becoming closed for access only for residents, businesses and the RNLI. Parking bays will mainly be for residents-only parking with some provided for loading/unloading.
Cove Street through to Hope Square will be closed from 10.30am to 9pm each day to provide the space needed for social distancing within the sitting-out areas and busy pedestrian environment.
Cllr Kate Wheller, Chair of Dorset Council Harbours Committee, said: “With visitors able to stay overnight, the number of hospitality and fishing industry businesses in this area, as well as the attraction of the harbour itself, more space will be needed to ensure social distancing can be maintained.
“It has been very challenging to meet the needs of every individual business that uses this busy area, as well as take into consideration the views of residents and the potential increase of sitting-out space.
“These temporary measures represent a compromise and is the best fit for this mixed-use area. It’s based on conversations with many businesses and organisations as well as past experiences, including annual events such as the Seafood Festival and traffic measures put in place during the London Olympics.”
Neighbourhood Chief Inspector Jamie Clark said: “Dorset Police is working with partners in the council and local businesses. We will have additional officers on duty and will proactively patrol the town centre to ensure the safety of our community. We would ask everyone to observe the current Government guidelines.”
What about supporting all the other businesses on the quay that need customers to drive and park alongside and require access all day. This will only benefit a few pubs and increase the anti social behaviour in the area . It will hopefully be opened up again soon as there is no way they are going to control social distancing . This will only increase the Covid 19 risk. I hope the council are going to monitor this !!
Hi Toby, the measures have been put in place to provide more space for social distancing in an area that gets crowded during the summer. With visitors able to stay overnight from 4 July, it is likely we will see the usual crowding in this area which presents a public safety issue if no additional space is provided.
We will be carefully monitoring any temporary highway measures that are put in place to provide additional space for social distancing and we won’t hesitate to change them if problems start to arise.
A 20-minute parking area has been reserved as close as possible to the road closure to help businesses. Vehicle access to the fish loading quay and to the south side of the harbour will be maintained at all times in order to accommodate marine businesses and services. Access to Custom House Quay between East Street and the Town Bridge will be available before 10.30am and after 9pm each day.
What about the road network putting more traffic on the other routes, what about the working Quay, the pubs alone the Quay will do fine with out this. This is a bad move
Hi John, many people drive along the harbour looking for a free one-hour space and circulating until one becomes free. The closure of the area to traffic will not significantly displace traffic onto other routes.
A sad day for the residents who moved to their homes for the lovely harbour view and end up with barbers poles and tables and chairs waiting for the lack of social distancing after a few drinks.
I think it does, as can be seen by the queues along the Esplanade between the Pavilion and the traffic lights at the top of King Street.
Yes it does as anyone using the Esplanade, East Street, Maiden Street and Bond Street will have noticed.
The plan may be to give space for social distancing, but that is a fantasy, this will allow a few businesses, who shout loudest, to make a lot more money, by overcrowding the area. Who do you propose is going to ensure social distancing is observed? Once We have crowds building now is by one going to limit further joining? It is not the public and land, so his security personnel can’t, are you proposing using Police? Or are Council hiring security personnel? We will end up with more drunks in the harbour, and possibly a fatality or two. Stop thinking only about the hospitality industry, it is important to the town, but it is not everything. For too long local government has listened too much to a single sector and a few vocal members of that sector in particular. If Weymouth ends up with a few less bars, low quality restaurants and take aways, after Covid, maybe it will make space for some better ones. The fishing industry, not large, but important in more ways than one will suffer. The harbour may also become less attractive to visiting yachts if revellers outside continue into the night. The harbour which is an attraction in itself, doesn’t need to become an outdoor nightclub, or pub. If publicans want to run beer gardens let them buy suitable premises, not turn the public highway into one. The closure of the highway is not in the public interest, but in the interest of a few businesses. This will move trade from one location to another, not create new trade. Drinkers will also buy alcohol from off sales, and uncontrolled drinking will occur both within and after hours. Please don’t use Covid 19 as an excuse for this exercise, you may think this very ” continental”, but this is not the Med, we do not need to close this road, there are more than enough drinking and eating establishments, encourage visitors to spread over all of them,across the town, rather than concentrating them all in one area. Keep more of them in business, rather helping a few profit. Please rethink this ill considered decision.
You have said parking will be available around Alexandra Gdns. It’s basically impossible, I live around there and have a residential parking permit and to get a space, if the influx of expected visitors parking is almost impossible. So it needs to be permit holders ONLY for this to work rather than a paper exercise
Hi D Britton, the spaces on Pilgrims Way and on the southern end of Alexandra Gardens will be for permit holders and blue badge holders only. This will be monitored and further space may be made available to holders of residents’ parking permits in nearby public car parks free of charge.
I note that Custom House Quay it is planned to ban traffic from 09:30 to 21:00 to assist with social distancing etc. Will the by-law banning the drinking of alcohol on this road be enforced as well ?
Hi Ron, yes the police will continue to enforce this by-law, which covers no drinking and causing a nuisance, rather than just no drinking.
Wow. So lots of consultation with business. It’s a residential area!
Shame on you ! I live in this area and I am disappointed that no one consulted with the residents it’s affects. Not only have you made it an absolute nightmare for me to access my property by car you have also ensured that we will get more special disturbances though groups spilling into the local area and causing noise disturbance for residents. Have no fear I will be in contact with all authorities each time this happens !
There is already enough room for local business around the harbour but you have now encroached on my right to family life.
What I find even more disappointing is that NO ONE form the council had the decency to get in contact with me about this – especially my councillor who should be representing their residents not just the business.
Hi Julia, The COVID-19 response legislation under which we are operating does not require public consultation as we are having to respond very fast to changing guidance from Government.
We’ve been speaking to local councillors, the town council, representatives of the harbour and businesses along the route, which has led to the current scheme.
On top of this, for the last month we have been running an online consultation on interventions required to ensure that businesses can operate safely as they re-open, and to enable people to continue to walk and cycle safely.
As of last week, 105 comments have been received on Weymouth harbourside, of which 95 indicated the desire to restrict vehicle access, either partly or fully, and 10 were against such proposals. This gives a snapshot of views from the wider population.
The final decision to place vehicle restrictions on parts of the harbour was made by the Dorset Council members for the local area, together with the Chair and Vice-chair of the Harbours Committee of Dorset Council, with the agreement of the Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and Environment. It was a unanimous decision.
This is an awful idea. You will kill the harbour. Yes the government may suggest greater seating for hospitality but not at the expense of our fishing industry.
No one thought this through. No one realizes that the work they do is tidal!!
This must not ba allowed to happen.
Hi Isabel, vehicle access to the fish loading quay and to the south side of the harbour will be maintained at all times in order to accommodate marine businesses and services. Access to Custom House Quay between East Street and the Town Bridge will be available before 10.30am and after 9pm each day. The southern end of Maiden Street has been made two-way to also help businesses with loading/unloading.
Wow, weymouth harbour is accessible by all fishing boats at all states of the tide. If you knew how to read a tide timetable it may help your judgement.
This must be allowed to happen
This is such a bad idea. A “working harbour” is the handover point between land and sea. It operates on tide times, not when people want to buy a latte or pint. The loads being transferred from land to sea and vice versa are too heavy to be carried by hand, they need vehicles. This will kill the harbour. The working boats that underpin the harbour’s finances and are the reason the hospitality businesses are sited where they are will go away.
Weymouth is an amazing harbour and is accessible by all its fishing fleet at all states of the tide so your argument has no factual base!
There is also a landing stage which only a few boats use!
How about we adapt to the new normal and try not to go backwards?
I hope the needs of disabled havnt been ignored re parking and easy access etc. they are already ignored on Market day when disabled spaces are blocked by traders etc.
Gridlock forecast. How can the “Council” move so quickly to rush this through when some things can take years. Brown envelopes and self interest spring to mind. This decision must be opposed and reversed
Hi Oldtimer43, the COVID-19 response legislation under which we are operating does not require public consultation as we are having to respond very fast to changing guidance from Government.
We’ve been speaking to local councillors, the town council, representatives of the harbour and businesses along the route, which has led to the current scheme.
On top of this, for the last month we have been running an online consultation on interventions required to ensure that businesses can operate safely as they re-open, and to enable people to continue to walk and cycle safely.
As of last week, 105 comments have been received on Weymouth harbourside, of which 95 indicated the desire to restrict vehicle access, either partly or fully, and 10 were against such proposals. This gives a snapshot of views from the wider population.
The final decision to place vehicle restrictions on parts of the harbour was made by the Dorset Council members for the local area, together with the Chair and Vice-chair of the Harbours Committee of Dorset Council, with the agreement of the Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and Environment. It was a unanimous decision.
gridlock forecast is something we are used to in weymouth!!!!
anyway it will men that less people will be driving round the harbour and polluting a beautiful place to live.
Lets look to the future and ban cars from all town centres?
I live in Weymouth and as I am disabled, rely on using my car to get me close enough to be able to go to a cafe, have a coffee, buy fish from Weyfish etc. This stops me from doing that by banning car access and hence treats me less favourably than others able to go to the quay by foot. I can’t use a land train as my rollator walker won’t fit in one and won’t be able to park close enough to use it to walk to the quay.
Hi Jenny, we’ve tried to balance the needs of everyone in this highly mixed-use area.
Although 1 hr parking bays are being suspended within the closed area, where parking remains it will be reserved for residents and blue badge holders. Parking on Alexandra Gardens will also be reserved for residents and blue badge holders. Access to some businesses will also be possible from Maiden Street, which is being made two-way at the southern end.
Will Cove Street have access for residents.(it is not clear in this article) as I have no other way to drive to and from my house.. I have to go down this road.. Surely you can’t ban me from driving to my own home?
Hi Barry, Cove Street will be closed from 10.30am to 9pm. Parking on Cove Row will be reserved for residents and blue badge holders and is around 50 metres from Cove Street.
There is no significant difference in access to Cove Street with the temporary measures in place. At the moment Cove Street is a restricted zone – no parking and no loading except in bays, of which there are none on Cove Street – the only way of visiting these houses by car currently is to park nearby and walk.
Access to Trinity Road/Cove Row will be reserved for access only, including for carers. Parking will be reserved for residents, so should be easier to find than at the moment. Twenty-minute loading bays will also be made available on Cove Row and St Leonards Road for short visits.
I have lived and worked around the harbour for 45 years, and watched a working port sadly decline largely through poor planning and decision making by various Councils. Yesterday’s unbelievable turn of events will open a can of worms. If you were serious about preserving social distancing you should also ban the consumption of alcohol outside of any public house boundaries to start with, but you won’t. This will lead to residents and harbour users having to navigate round the drinkers who will gravitate to the area in large numbers . You will make it very difficult for commercial boats to operate and any visiting boats will be driven towards Portland Marina, a far more pleasant experience. So if your aim is to drive all harbour users east of the town bridge away and just have an empty outer harbour for all the rubbish your decision will create….. bravo! No doubt you have also considered the traffic chaos that this will cause to local people and confused visitors. Thank you for working with us and for us again!
Hi Jon, that is certainly not our intention.
The measures have been put in place to provide more space for social distancing in an area that gets crowded during the summer. With visitors able to stay overnight from 4 July, it is likely we will see the usual crowding in this area which presents a public safety issue if no additional space is provided.
We’ve tried to balance the needs of everyone in this highly mixed-use area within the temporary measures being put in place.
Vehicle access to the fish loading quay and to the south side of the harbour will be maintained at all times in order to accommodate marine businesses and services. Access to Custom House Quay between East Street and the Town Bridge will be available before 10.30am and after 9pm each day. A 20-minute parking area has also been reserved as close as possible to the road closure to help businesses loading/unloading.
the pubs are going to open anyway!!!!!!
shall we give them more room to social distance or keep the roads open and squat all the drinkers on the pavements????
12 weeks of road closures will put more pressure on the working harbour. Putting more people on the Quay just to sit down and have a beer.
There has all ready been 1 death by someone falling from the harbour wall. Was that to much beer ??????
There has been a petition against this plan but council seems to have ignored this.
On a sunny day it’s bad enough with people sitting and drinking on the Quay wall together with no social distancing and that’s with the pubs closed
Hi David, the measures are being put in place to provide more space for social distancing in an area that gets crowded during the summer. With visitors able to stay overnight from 4 July, it is likely we will see the usual crowding in this area which presents a public safety issue if no additional space is provided.
We will be carefully monitoring any temporary highway measures that are put in place to provide additional space for social distancing and we won’t hesitate to change them if problems start to arise.
Vehicle access to the fish loading quay and to the south side of the harbour will be maintained at all times in order to accommodate marine businesses and services. Access to Custom House Quay between East Street and the Town Bridge will be available before 10.30am and after 9pm each day. A 20-minute parking area has also been reserved as close as possible to the road closure to help businesses loading/unloading.
the pubs are going to open anyway! if the roads aren’t shut then the people will have to crowd even more.
There has been a petition, how about the feelings from the rest of weymouth?
I am sorry for pub staff/owners who have suffered from closure, but I cannot see any reason why their businesses should be allowed to benefit from the misery of local residents, who will suffer from additional noise, rubbish left and crowding by allowing businesses to use public space for their own purposes. I note that all of the above responses stress that the Council is not required to consult locally on this, but it appears they have consulted with businesses only, so the responses were only to be expected, but consider: businesses do not elect Councillors – residents do & do so expecting Councillors to work for them & in their best interests. This is a bad decision and likely to encourage more “Bournemouth Beach” & “Durdle Door” scenes.
Why didn’t the council consider the closing of the esplanade road from the king’s statue to the pavilion?? A Family distancing and safety area for all not just the few.
It seamed to work for the Olympic’s
Hi Jon, we’re continuing to work with town councils across the Dorset Council area on further measures that could be implemented if needed. As you can appreciate this is a constantly evolving situation as more parts of the economy open up. It’s difficult to say what other temporary measures might be needed to aid social distancing but we are monitoring the needs of individual towns and we will work with town councils to help with any situations that arise.
I think a trial period is a good idea. Let’s see what really happens, rather than speculate. It might work. There is a lot of positive feedback from towns that have pedestrianised areas. We need to cut down our reliability on cars and find alternatives.
As a representative of local businesses we raised numerous concerns about this idea on behalf of businesses along the harbour side. We were told by both representatives of the town council and Dorset council that a full consultation would be completed prior to any decision being made regarding a temporary traffic regulation order change…….this has NOT happened. It was very clear that this was being pushed through irrespective of local challenge from businesses and residents. A rushed initiative that may well cause untold unintended negative impact despite whatever positive intent from individuals involved. Please can you publish a full list of all businesses consulted (as you seem to believe that you’ve been working in partnership with local business) Please also publish the key success criteria and quantitive measures that you have no doubt agreed to measure the success of this initiative so that we can see before the scheme starts ‘what success looks like’ and how you will measure this versus other non pedestrianised areas.
A query about the land train that was given the go ahead some weeks ago. Its route is shown on the Custom House quay and also mentioned regarding walking pace access. It is not mentioned on the Hope square side. I understood that it was due to start in July, but have not seen any more details as to its timetable and exact route. I was doubtful about the ability of a multi trailer diesel vehicle to negotiate some of the tight bends round town, over the town bridge, down Trinity Rd, and finally turning in Hope square for return. With these new measures surely this needs to be reviewed. It’s just another complication into the mix when we are expecting more people to socially distance and businesses to take advantage of the extra space that is being allowed. Under normal circumstances it is regularly difficult just walking these areas when it is busy.
Hi Doug, our understanding is that the new Radipole Express will just be running on its main route (Alexandra Gardens to Radipole Lake to Alexandra Gardens) this year due to the cruise industry not currently operating, with the Brewers Quay/Hope Square route not needed.
So, after the fanfare of the land trains announcement the other week, we have a different situation. It appears you are not quite sure what its route is, nor when it will operate. Just ban it from the harbourside for this 12 week trial period otherwise it will just add to the difficulties in managing things. Has the owner been communicated with?
Hello, I support the idea and am resident in the Hope Square area. Increasingly the no entry signs on the corner of Spring Road and Horsford Street are ignored. Traffic other than local residents going towards the Town Bridge will be an increased danger as much of the route has no sidewalk and is narrow, Cove St in particular. The locals understand and drive accordingly mainly. Some policing preferably by camera permanently or by random stake out would be a good idea to deter the law breakers.
Wow what a great idea, I think that pedestrianising the harbour is a great idea and will improve the area. I also live in the area and would like this to be permanent. I know there has been a lot of negativity from the residents who live right on the harbour but theirs is not the only voice. they are not the only stakeholders and if public opinion is to be listened to then it should encompass all opinions from all voters in the weymouth area. I would also suggest that if the council want to put this out for public consultation then maybe the road closure should be at least every summer if not permanently.
Will the car parks be open in the West Bay Area in Bridport