Leader's plea for people to stay home and help save lives

Trafford Council leader Andrew Western is urging residents to resist the temptation of visiting some of the borough’s beauty spots this Easter weekend and instead stay at home to help protect lives.

With warm weather expected over the next few days there are fears that some people may flout the government guidance around keeping their distance from others and not travelling to areas far away from their homes to exercise.

Since the measures were brought in on 23 March, people have been told they can only leave the house for four limited reasons: shopping for basic necessities; one form of exercise a day; any medical need and travelling to work if you cannot work from home.

Trafford Council has slapped a ban on cars parking near Sale Water Park and there will be extra patrols in the borough’s parks and open spaces to make sure people listen to the government advice.

Cllr Western said:

We have some fantastic beauty spots and visitor attractions in Trafford and across Greater Manchester and in normal times we would want people to visit them. However we are not in normal times and people really do need to listen to the warnings. Please stay at home.

If people follow the government guidance then the sooner we can all get back to some sort of normality but everyone needs to listen to the advice.

People have been out clapping the fantastic efforts of our NHS staff and other key workers and I know how much this means to those delivering services on the front line. But the best way we can show our appreciation is by staying at home this weekend no matter how warm the weather gets.Most people in Trafford have followed the guidelines and I would like to thank them for doing so and I would urge people to continue to remain at home this Easter weekend.”

Posted on Thursday 9th April 2020