A government roadmap is not the only route to success for our city

With the next stage of the government “roadmap” on Monday 29 March, planning continues to ensure our city continues to safely manage the pandemic.

Preparations continue for what a government easing of restrictions may mean with a plan being published next week to cautiously begin reopening.

While the Easter break is on the horizon, some key restrictions are still in place including self-contained holiday accommodation which won’t open until Monday 12 April at the earliest.

Though Boris Johnson referred to “data, not dates”, which was followed by … a flurry of dates, I am clear that we have to prepare responsibly and stay alert to how the covid-19 situation in the UK may yet change unpredictably.

To fail to do this would be to let down all of those who have fought hard to stop the spread of covid-19 in our city. Our brilliant public health officials are watching the local data like a hawk.

While the roadmap may set out the government’s aspirations, without public health being front and  centre, the best-laid plans could go awry.

However, preparing for the future doesn’t mean we are out of the pandemic. This week, we’ve already become aware of the impact of more people mixing.

As predicted by government scientists, the reopening of schools and the welcome increase in testing has revealed more cases of covid-19. But sadly people are mixing outside of school and indoors.

While we should exercise caution about drawing comparisons with other European countries, those with rising cases cite the Kent variant as the reason why, having come out of lockdown, they are reimposing it weeks later.

And we must remember that scientists here say we have 10 detected variants and we don’t know yet what will happen when lockdown is fully lifted.

Our focus remains on how we reopen the city in a safe and managed way, to support our tourism, events and hospitality industry, but also keep residents and visitors protected from new infection.

All of us are keen that Brighton and Hove thrives again and want to welcome visitors who treat where we live with care.

But drawing on lessons from last summer, we are analysing everything from our seafront capacity, support for the hospitality sector, to how waste is managed and our hospital capacity.

Large numbers of people visiting put pressure on local services – so it’s vital that all sectors work together on this.

So while the “roadmap” puts the prospect of events back on the horizon, it’s clear from concerns raised by residents that major events will have to demonstrate to all that they can prevent transmission as much as possible – looking at social distancing, group sizes, test and trace capacity and community concern.

We know too that the events industry has had to adapt and react to an exhaustive number of changes this year – to the point where so many events proposed for 2021 have already been cancelled, and we will work with event organisers in our city to adapt once again.

As I have said before, I firmly believe that keeping covid rates low is the key way we support employment and jobs in the longer term.

We will keep working hard to ensure that public safety and reopening our city can go hand in hand.

Looking ahead also means planning beyond the summer. Just as our tourism, hospitality and events sectors have been affected by the pandemic, there are many who have found themselves unemployed or facing job insecurity.

So I’m pleased that this week councillors will be able to vote on plans to develop a Youth Zone in the city, to support young people who have not only experienced the turbulence of the pandemic but who are facing an uncertain future.

Following our budget proposals at the end of last month, resources are also being set aside to scale up work on supporting young people into employment.

We are also proposing to continue to ensure supermarket and food vouchers are available to families throughout the Easter holidays, particularly those who are entitled to free school meals.

We have always been clear we see recovery from the pandemic as a key way to help play our part for the environment too.

So this week we also published bold plans to reduce the city’s toxic emissions by 2030. Initially focusing on intensive work required in the next three years, the plan covers community engagement, education and skills, plans to reduce waste and create jobs.

Within it are opportunities to reduce fuel poverty, address housing conditions, improve access to lower-cost energy and protect communities from the worst of climate change impacts.

With warnings from scientists clear, we must stay on course with a plan to reduce toxic emissions in the city.

Councillor Phélim Mac Cafferty is the Green leader of Brighton and Hove City Council.