Temporarily closed road in Lutterworth reopens

Harborough District Council said it had listened to feedback from the town council, businesses and residents and gained approval from Leicestershire County Council that Church Street (pictured) should reopen to traffic from Friday 3 July 2020.

Initially, the road had been closed in collaboration with retail groups and local businesses, to promote social distancing, but after being closed for just under three weeks, overwhelming feedback was that it should be reopened. Pavements will continue to be widened with the closing off of on-street car parking in order to continue to enable social distancing on this important shopping street.

The changes in Lutterworth, from Friday 3 July 2020 are as follows:

• Reopening of Church Street and cancellation of diversion
• Changes to the current barriers so pedestrians can safely walk on the northern side of the road as far as the Flackies butcher’s shop
• Introduce barriers on the southern side of the street to enable social distancing and queue management outside Ishka up to the entrance to Hai Tian
• Continued suspension of the parking bays

Cllr Jonathan Bateman, Harborough District Council’s Cabinet lead for regulatory services, said: “It is important that high streets shops are able to trade successfully, and we have always said any measures introduced, to allow shops to reopen safely, will be monitored and reviewed in consultation with the businesses community. With this in mind we have listened to feedback businesses and residents in Lutterworth and are looking to make amendments in line with these.”

Last month, Harborough District Council introduced a number of measures in Lutterworth and Market Harborough town centres to help create a safe shopping environment including ‘Highstreet Helpers’ wearing high-visibility vests, public hand sanitiser stations, and street markings to show people where to queue.

Cllr Bateman added: “Reopening this road is not a magic bullet; we need people to come out and shop and support their local retailers to help them bounce back from having to close for so long during the lockdown. The message is clear: Harborough district is ‘open for business’, you can shop safely and the district is not affected by the localised lockdown in Leicester – so please come and shop.”

The temporary road closures in Adam and Eve Street and Church Street in Market Harborough remain in place but are being reviewed weekly.

If you have any feedback please email planningpolicy@harborough.gov.uk