I’m pleased that Swale Borough Council has listened to people and businesses in Faversham and decided to reverse the temporary road closures in the town.
While these roads were closed to allow for social distancing on some of our busiest streets, many people told me this was making it harder for them to get to shops and services in the town. Huge thank you to the Faversham Traders Association for helping to highlight these concerns.
The Council took the decision to end the closures earlier this week and the roads will be open to traffic again from Monday 19 July. A full statement can be found on the Council's website here.
There had been plans to make these closures permanent, which risked making access problems even worse. In my submission to the Council’s consultation on these plans, I called for the focus to be on helping shops and traders back on their feet after this difficult year.
We should absolutely be looking at ways to build back better from the pandemic. That includes making it easier and safer for people to walk and cycle around the town. But any changes to our town need to work with local people, including shop owners and traders.