Hoveton Community Council

Measures being introduced in Hoveton as lockdown eases have largely been finalised. The changes will start to happen in w/c 29th June ready for the 4th July “re-opening” and will be as follows:

1. Various signs will be placed on pavements around the village centre to help people maintain social distance. These will be placed in accordance with queuing arrangements agreed with each business and are designed to keep individual queues apart and to give sufficient space for those queuing to maintain social distance.
2. Benches will be moved off the path on Granary Staithe to accommodate safe queuing.
3. Foot-operated hand-sanitiser stations will be installed on both sides of the road near the takeaways at the bridge.
4. A barrier has been placed on the double yellow lines outside the takeaways on the northern side of Norwich Road to protect public safety, both in terms of protecting people queuing by preventing vehicles from pulling up here, restricting crossing close to the bridge, and to allow a maximum space between road and pavement for social distancing purposes.
5. Norfolk County Council has placed signage/stencils at either side of the footbridge to try to manage congestion there.
6. The timing of the lights at the Roys crossing has been adjusted to reduce waiting time for pedestrians.

As we previously advised, there will be no one-way system for pedestrians in Hoveton. All of these measures, of course, rely on the co-operation of residents, visitors and business owners and we hope you will play your part in keeping everyone safe. No-one really knows how busy the village will be and we may have to react to changes in circumstances. If you see any problems emerging, please let us know.

Please note that all seating areas on Granary Staithe will be closed tonight (Monday 22nd June) from 6.30pm for essential maintenance. The wonderful members of the Wroxham Bure Valley Rotary Club have generously volunteered to paint the tables and give the site a general tidy up ahead of (we hope) a busy July for the village.

North Norfolk District Council’s “You Are Welcome” initiative has been developing a plan, in consultation with local businesses, Highways and Hoveton Parish Council, as to how we can safely accommodate an expected increase in visitors to our village as lockdown eases further in July.

NNDC has been very impressed by the way businesses are already operating, so changes won’t be radical. We don’t expect one-way pedestrian flows to be implemented. There is broad agreement that a one-way pedestrian system would cause more problems than it would solve in terms of public safety (especially on the road near the bridge) and that it would also have a disproportionate impact on those with mental or physical disabilities.

During the week of the 29th June, you can expect to see queuing markers appear on Hoveton’s pavements to direct the queues for each business, and some movement of furniture on Granary Staithe to accommodate queuing on the footpath. You’ll also see social distancing and hand washing reminders being placed around the village centre and some hand sanitiser stations being installed.

We’ll let you know about other measures (possibly traffic related) as and when these have been agreed with affected businesses. Both HPC and NNDC are realistic that we need to be prepared for the current plans to evolve. None of us know how busy the village is going to be, but it is assumed we will see a substantial increase in visitors to the area in the coming weeks. If you become aware of issues which arise over this period, please do let us know.