Anger over 'people ignoring lockdown' at common
'The car park is shut but they're removing the cones'
PEOPLE are ignoring coronavirus restrictions at Greenham Common, it has been claimed.
Critics have sent photographs to the Newbury Weekly News showing cars parked in a car park that has apparently been blocked off by bollards – with the implication the official obstructions have been removed to allow access and then replaced.
Others have complained of people apparently sunbathing on loungers in the public space.
One walker, who took this photograph of around nine cars parked at the Greenham Common Pyle Hill car park inside the barriers marked ‘Car Parked Closed’ said: “Greenham Common is getting busier by the day.
“The car park is shut, but they are obviously removing the cones.
“People are ignoring Government instructions – they obviously think the rules don’t apply to them.”
Police closed off the main car park at Burys Bank Road on Friday, March 27, telling walkers not to drive their cars up to the common.
However, the College of Policing, which sets professional standards, and the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC), later advised: “People will want to exercise locally and may need to travel to do so; we don’t want the public sanctioned for travelling a reasonable distance to exercise.”
The bollards and notices have been placed at the Pyle Hill car park by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT), which leases the land from West Berkshire Council.
BBOWT said in a statement: “Due to reduced staffing levels and volunteer help, it is not possible for us to keep the majority of our car parks open safely.
“As a result, where possible we have closed the car parks at our reserves and are asking people not to park in the ones we can’t close.”