County Matters

The County has just set out a Local Outbreak Control Plan for Corvid 19 which will help with any localised outbreaks if they occur in Cumbria,

The Plan is available for inspection on the County web site at cumbria.gov.uk

Cumbria highways have received extra funding to help maintain our highways here in the County and some work has already been carried out. A section of the main road between Grange and Lindale including the mini roundabout near the ornamental gardens and the entrance to the Grand Hotel has been resurfaced. The mini roundabout at Lindale will be next.

The Chancellor has announced a whole raft of measures to help invigorate the economy

These include:

•          Introducing a “kickstart” job creation scheme for young people with the government paying the wages of new young employees for six months. There will be an initial £2bn to fund hundreds of thousands of jobs with no cap on the number of places available;

•          Doubling work coaches in Jobcentres;

•          Apprenticeships will be supported by bonuses for companies;

•          Creating a £3bn funding pot for decarbonising housing and public buildings;

•          Temporarily increasing the threshold for stamp duty from £125,000 to £500,000 until March 31, 2021, to help reinvigorate the housing market;

•          Cutting VAT from the current rate of 20% to 5% for the next six months on food, accommodation and attractions. The cut lasts from today until January 12, 2021;

An “eat out to help out discount” to encourage consumers to spend at restaurants and cafes. Meals eaten at any participating businesses, from Mondays to Wednesdays in August, will be 50% off up to a maximum discount of £10 per head with businesses claiming the money back from Government.

At a County level I hope all our smaller businesses will be able to benefit from these changes and I encourage us to support our local businesses as we will need them all coming out of the very difficult past few months.

I have noticed now that we are all out and about more, Grange promenade is being frequented by a lot more people. This is good news as we are all able to exercise more but some residents have pointed out to me a number of   people not observing the advice about venturing on to the foreshore. I know it is tempting to go out to the sand now the channel is nearer the foreshore but I would advise real caution to anyone walking out there that the incoming tide can cut you off from the shore and put your safety in danger.

As we all enjoy the promenade I would also ask cyclists to please be careful and watch out for pedestrians.  I have had residents contact me about a few cyclists not observing the rules of dismounting on entering and exiting the promenade. This brilliant facility here in Grange is for us all to enjoy so lets apply common sense so that everyone can exercise in a safe and secure environment

Please everyone stay safe and enjoy the summer

Kindest regards

Bill Wearing

Conservative County Councillor Grange Division