Hastings remains ‘closed to visitors’ this bank holiday weekend

Visitors have been reminded that Hastings, and amenities in the town, will remain closed throughout the bank holiday weekend.
Hastings seafront pictured on day one of the UK lockdown. SUS-200324-111205001Hastings seafront pictured on day one of the UK lockdown. SUS-200324-111205001
Hastings seafront pictured on day one of the UK lockdown. SUS-200324-111205001

Hastings Borough Council issued the message on Thursday (May 21) and urged residents to ‘keep up the good work’ in keeping infection rates low.

Despite the government relaxing some lockdown rules, including allowing people to travel to the beach, the council said all amenities will remain closed to deter people from visiting.

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The council said: “Hastings Borough Council has emphasised again that we remain closed to visitors from outside the town at this time, and urges residents to keep up the good work of keeping infections so low in Hastings, despite the government starting to relax the lockdown rules.”

The warning comes a day after car parks in Camber had to be closed due to the influx of visitors to the beach on Wednesday (May 20).

With temperatures set to rise ahead of the bank holiday weekend, seaside towns are concerned many people will travel to beaches.

Hastings council leader Kim Forward said: “Our position is clear, it hasn’t changed. This is because our priority remains, and will always be, keeping our residents safe.

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“We have one of the lowest infection rates in the whole of England and we intend to do our part to keep it that way. So, for now our amenities will stay closed. We want to keep Hastings safe and these cannot just be empty words, they must be backed up by actions. Opening our amenities will encourage more people to visit and will lead to increased risk of infection.

“Although the government has changed their message, we have not. Our message to residents is still stay safe and stay home as much as possible to save lives. We know people will go out for exercise, but people must keep social distancing and washing their hands when they return home.

“Our strong message to visitors from outside the town is similar to that of many other seaside towns, such as Eastbourne, Torbay and Weston-super-Mare, Hastings is still closed.

Government has issued guidance, but they have also made it clear that councils need to decide for themselves what they can safely reopen, taking into account their own local circumstances.

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“On Tuesday, the government’s own deputy chief scientific adviser Prof Dame Angela McLean, said that scientists have told ministers that they should only relax the lockdown when a proper contact tracing system is in place. Beyond a test on the Isle of Wight of such a system there are no firm details from government that a countrywide system is ready to be put in place any time soon.

“We will continue to monitor the situation. We will review once we see signs of a proper Track, Trace, Isolate and Support System in place and a sustained ‘R’ rate that is below 1.

“We are aware some people may disagree with our decision and we accept that. But it won’t alter our stance. We are putting residents’ safety first. We are dealing with a virus that kills.

“At the end of all of this, it will be impossible to know if we overreacted, if we were too cautious. But if will be obvious if we under reacted, if we weren’t cautious enough.”