Southport residents urged to follow social distancing in borough’s green spaces

Residents across Sefton are being reminded to follow the Government guidelines when it comes to tackling the spread of the coronavirus.

The Government is urging people to stay at home, taking the strain off the NHS and helping to save lives.

The most recent guidance from Government is:

Only go outside for food, health reasons or work (but only if you cannot work from home)

Stay 2 metres (6ft) away from other people

Wash your hands as soon as you get home

Although Sefton’s parks, coast and other outdoor spaces are still accessible to people, some visitors are failing to follow social distancing guidelines, often congregating in large groups and in close proximity to each other.

Sefton Council is urging people to adhere to the Government guidelines to help tackle the spread of the coronavirus.

Cllr Ian Moncur, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, said: “People can still visit our beautiful open spaces to take their daily exercise if absolutely necessary, but it is imperative that everyone adheres to social distancing, does not congregate in groups and maintains at least two metres distance from others. At this time people should only really be visiting parks, greenspaces and coastal areas local to their home and avoid unnecessary travel. The most important action we can all take at this time is to follow the Government’s advice in order to protect the NHS and save lives.”

As a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic, Green Sefton has made a number of changes to the services they deliver in managing the borough’s outdoor spaces:

All play areas and outdoor gyms have been closed

All coastal car parks have been closed

All public toilets have been closed

Lifeguarding has been suspended at all beach sites

Green Sefton is also urging visitors to take rubbish and dog fouling home with them, as refuse collection and other maintenance will not be possible across all sites at this time.

Please continue to respect our staff by following social distancing advice.

Green Sefton and Sefton Council will be keeping visitors updated via web and social media channels.

If you see anything that requires attention in any of our green spaces, email greensefton@sefton.gov.uk. Green Sefton may not be able to commit as many resources to regular inspections during the COVID-19 outbreak, so visitors can play their part in helping us to maintain our green spaces.