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I understand people’s anger at images shared yesterday. Some of the actions were unacceptable, but equally 1,000s of Hackney residents were following the rules; legitimately taking exercise & maintaining physical & mental health. 280,000 people many with no private open space 1/5
Puts a huge pressure on our green spaces. We've done a huge amount to keep them safe & open, expand space for people, change opening times, get clear messaging out, challenge businesses, provide clear info in our parks, work with @MPSHackney & deploy @hackneycouncil teams 2/5
But these stats show the challenge as does some of the behaviour seen yesterday. Some of the parks could be locked, but most can't be - so others would come under further pressure as we've seen. As we have every week, the Council & partners will reflect & improve our response 3/5
I'm told fines were issued. We all have our part to play, as does Govt who needed to be clearer going into this BH weekend. People are of course ultimately responsive for their own behaviour, but some of the images were also as a result of mixed messaging coming out from Govt 4/5
I am deeply concerned that replacing ‘stay at home’ with the meaningless ‘stay alert’ whilst lockdown is still in effect & as we head into summer will lead to more confusion about the rules & ultimately to more resentment growing between citizens, as well as authorities. 5/5
