Agenda item

The Chair of Council, Councillor Richard Allan Jones, made the following announcement:-

“I recently had the pleasure of meeting David Sullivan who is undertaking a  Charity Walk from Land’s End to John O’Groats, all while hitting a golf ball, in the hope of raising £60,000 for the British Heart Foundation. 

At each of the stops on his journey, David is training individuals on how to save lives with CPR. David himself saved the life of a young man who had a cardiac arrest by giving him CPR until he could be treated with a Defibrillator.  Thanks to David’s actions, the man made a full recovery.

David and the British Heart Foundation, have gifted a Defibrillator to the Authority and I have been talking to Rupert Suckling our Director of Public Health as to how we can best make use of this generous donation. If any members have any suggestions I would be most grateful if they could contact me after the meeting.  Thank you.”

The Mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones, made the following announcement:-

“Since I became Mayor, we have made available free car parking for the festive season from 2pm in our large council car parks to support Doncaster Town Centre. This year, as the economy re-opens fully following the pandemic and to support our economic recovery, I am today announcing that from 1st August through until the end of October, we will be offering free parking from 2pm at our Markets Car Park and St George’s Car Park.

Chappell Drive will also provide free all day parking on Saturdays.  As a reminder, Council run car parks and on-street pay and display areas continue to be free on Sundays.

Whilst we undertake this 3-month trial, we will be fully reviewing all our parking arrangements and charges for the Town Centre.  Free parking is also available as a standard in other areas of our Borough, including Mexborough and Thorne, providing free car parking facilities for residents and businesses.

I would love to offer completely free car parking in Doncaster all year round, but unfortunately, the current state of Local Authority funding does not allow this.

Our high streets and Town Centres need all the support that we can provide.  It is up to us as elected officials to support and promote our local businesses, and our local high-streets.  I also encourage the people of Doncaster to shop local wherever possible. Spending locally supports local businesses, local people and local families.”

Councillor Nigel Ball made the following announcement:-

“We are well into the second year of the COVID pandemic and I want to once again express my condolences and deepest sympathies to those who have lost loved ones through this time, and express my thanks to all those keeping Doncaster going.

The number of new cases in Doncaster has been rising sharply since the beginning of June.  The rate of new cases is now over 500/100,000, which is the highest rate seen in Doncaster at any point of the pandemic so far.  This is consistent with what is happening in neighbouring areas and is due to the new delta variant.

Although this rise in infections has not translated to a significant rise in hospital attendances at the same rate as in previous waves, a number of people are still needing hospital treatment, including intensive care.  Those who are not vaccinated are more likely to be admitted to hospital.  We encourage strongly that people come forward and get themselves vaccinated.

Even if catching the virus does not lead to hospitalisation, it can make people very unwell and some will develop Long COVID.  The virus also causes disruption in communities with nearly 400 children and staff testing positive in schools, and over 6,000 pupils and staff are self-isolating at this time in Doncaster.  This is repeated in our businesses and hospitality venues where a number have had to close due to staff shortages.

This week, the Government stated that England will move to step 4 of the Roadmap on the 19th July when most legal restrictions will end, removing social distancing and social contact restrictions, and enabling remaining businesses to reopen.

Current modelling suggests that COVID-19 cases will continue to rise as restrictions are eased. Hospitalisations, serious illness and deaths will also continue, albeit hopefully at a much lower level than before the vaccination programme.

As a result of this, the Council will now provide advice and support to keep community transmission as low as possible, and continue to protect those who remain vulnerable while enabling safe social and economic activity as much as possible.

We will be encouraging businesses to create places where people feel safe to work and visit. There will be consistent messaging on the need for self isolation if people have symptoms and getting tested if symptomatic or regular Lateral Flow Tests for key settings.

It is absolutely vital that we proceed with caution. The pandemic is not over and continues to carry risks.  We are going to see more cases, more hospitalisations and sadly more deaths.  People should not assume that everything will be back to normal when restrictions ease on Monday.  Sheffield City Region Mayor, Dan Jarvis, made the right and proper decision yesterday to make mask wearing mandatory within our Interchanges in South Yorkshire.  We encourage people to do this and indeed, keep their masks on whilst on public transport.  We also encourage all residents to be vigilant, be careful and be mindful of their activities and situations.

Our people, our communities, our volunteers, our carers, our key workers, our businesses, your Council and our NHS, have all had a role to play in this and have all worked hard to help and protect everyone during this pandemic.  Locally, the response has been amazing and has shown the very best of Doncaster.

We all still have this duty and Doncaster as a community, must still work together collectively to get through this during the days, weeks and months ahead.  We will not falter in this and we recognise that the pandemic is far from over despite the Government removing restrictions at this critical time.”