BUDE-Stratton Town Council has responded to the COVID-19 situation.

Following the government advice issued on March 16 regarding social distancing, the protection of vulnerable people and home working, Bude-Stratton Town Council has made the ‘difficult decision’ to close its buildings to the public.

The council office, Parkhouse Centre, Castle and Library has shut to the public as of Tuesday, March 17 and more recently, on Monday, March 23, the decision was made to shut the public toilets as well as Town Council owned playgrounds. ?Despite the Town Council making the decision to close the Library building, people will still be able to take out and return books, as there will be a limited foyer services in place during usual opening times. This means books that have been reserved can be collected from the foyer, and will have been issued to library cards.

When reserving, Bude Library staff have asked people to try and choose books already on the shelf, these will be processed much faster, and also avoid any issues if the delivery service goes down.

If unable to use the online reservation, call or email and the team will either choose a selection, or reserve specific items. Call 0300 1234 111 or email [email protected]

Although BSTC have decided to close many of its buildings and sites to the public, contact with the office can still be made by phone and email.

The council has also not charged any organisation who have cancelled their bookings in recent days and will refund any prepayments made.

After announcing the decision to close the toilets on his Facebook page, mayor of Bude Cllr Bob Willingham explained why it was important for them to close. He said: “There are two main reasons why we have decided to close the toilets. The first being to protect staff, as it is a high-risk area to clean despite providing the correct protective equipment it isn’t a safe environment.

“Secondly, having the toilets open allows tourists to think it is holiday season at Bude. Encouraging tourists to come down is only going to make things worse for the local services and hospitals.”

The decision was also made to cancel the recent Stratton by-election, which was due to go to the polls on Thursday, March 19. New national guidance for returning officers confirmed that it would be both reasonable and consistent with the national position for a returning officer to suspend any poll including any scheduled for 19 March. This means the Stratton ward election for Bude-Stratton Town Council will be suspended until a date to be announced.

The council has also postponed public events for the next 12-week period. This includes the grand opening of the new Bencoolen Play Park on April 4; the Proclamation Ceremony at the Triangle for Gorsedh Kernow on April 18; the annual town meeting held at the Parkhouse Centre on April 30; the VE Day celebrations and garden party on the Castle lawns on May 8; and Bude Earth Day on June 7 — the council is exploring ways to hold a virtual event instead.

As it stands, events for July onwards remain in the diary, starting with the Battle of Stamford Hill commemoration and Heritage Day on July 18 and 19.

Currently, all the town council meetings have been suspended to avoid any unnecessary contact. But councillors are still continuing to communicate electronically, and have created the Bude and Stratton Emergency Action Team. This new group includes town clerk, Keith Cornwell; mayor, Cllr Willingham; deputy mayor, Cllr Peter Moores; Cornwall councillor for Bude, Peter La Broy; and chair of the Communities Committee, Cllr Tony Gibbs. This group will look to discuss important and pressing issues the town face via regular video group calls.

A spokesperson from Bude-Stratton Town Council said: “Our priority is the health and wellbeing of our community and we feel it would be inappropriate to continue supporting social gatherings at this time. Our position will be reviewed in line with guidance issued from the government over the coming weeks and updates will be issued across our websites, social media and via local media.

“We understand this is a difficult time for everyone and urge those concerned to follow the current NHS and government guidelines on what to do.

“There are already many wonderful community initiatives coming to action to support those most at risk and isolated, including a Facebook group set up called ‘Bude and Surrounding Areas Quarantine Support Group’. Once we have looked how our remaining services can be delivered, we will assess what we can do to support the wider community with the resources that we have available.

“Finally, we urge everyone to look out for the most at risk within our community, especially those without internet connections or social media. They may be particularly isolated from local news and feel cut off at this difficult time.”