Stratford-on-Avon District Council COVID-19 update - 20 May
Key updates - 20 May
- Advice for people visiting Stratford-upon-Avon
For those wishing to visit Stratford-upon-Avon, the public open spaces at the Recreation Ground and Bancroft Gardens remain open and people are advised to practise social distancing from other people outside your household.
The public toilets at Recreation Ground and on Waterside (by the weekend) are open with social distancing measures in place and frequent cleaning in operation.
All other public toilets in the town centre and across the district remain closed.
The Recreation Ground play area, including the paddling pool and outdoor gym equipment remain closed as per current Government guidance.
The District Council car parks are open and charges will apply.
Please remember the majority of non-essential retail and amenities in the town centre remain closed at this time.
For the latest Government Guidance please visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can-and-cant-do/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can-and-cant-do
- Discretionary Business Rates Scheme
We are set to receive around £1.8m to support small and micro-businesses with high fixed property-related costs that aren't eligible for existing Government grant schemes.
We're preparing to deliver this new grant scheme, and have been asked by the government to prioritise the following types of businesses for grants:
- B&Bs which pay council tax instead of business rates
- small businesses in shared offices or other flexible work spaces which don't have their own business rates assessment, such as:
- industrial parks / science parks / incubators
- regular market traders who don't have their own business rates assessment
- charity properties in receipt of charitable business rates relief, which would otherwise have been eligible for small business rates relief or rural rate relief
This is not intended to be an exhaustive list, but a guide as to the types of uses that the Government considers should be a priority for the scheme.
Uplift grants are available to businesses with fewer than 50 employees and facing ongoing fixed building related costs.
Applicants must have been trading since before 11 March 2020, and be able to demonstrate that they've suffered a significant fall in income due to the Coronavirus outbreak.
More details of the scheme, including how to apply, will be published in due course.
- Venture House Business Update
For the latest Government COVID-19 guidance to small businesses go to the Venture House Coronavirus Guidance webpage and the https://coronavirus.cwgrowthhub.co.uk/. Here you'll find out more about how to work safely in the different types of workplace, as well as the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, the new Bounce Back Loans and the extended Job Retention Scheme.
A comprehensive financial guide is available from the MoneySavingExpert which looks specifically at the rights of self-employed people, including help for limited company directors.
A thought provoking articlefrom the Director of Public Health at Coventry City Council is urging businesses to be prepared for working life alongside Covid-19, after warning that future waves of the virus are likely until a vaccine is found.
To read more from Venture House Business Centre, take a look at their latest business update
- Extraordinary, Council - Wednesday 27 May at 2pm
The agenda for the Extraordinary Council meeting is now available to view on our website: http://ow.ly/Roo750zJsUV
You can view the meeting by pasting https://bit.ly/2USnjOR into your browser and selecting 'watch on the web instead'.
Cllr Tony Jefferson, Leader of Stratford-on-Avon District Council says: "Moving out of 'lockdown' is going to create many challenges and one thing is absolutely certain, we will not please everyone. Not only that, whilst workload in some areas may be reducing a bit, in others it is growing considerably. The challenges for our people just keep on coming and I am always impressed with the way they respond."
