By Insider 

Due to general disarrangement of council matters owing to you-know-what (Coronavirus, you have got a lot to answer for) the election of the next mayor and deputy have to be postponed for another year, so Cllrs Corbin and Walsh stay in position until 2021 which seems sensible (Perhaps we shall all be a bit more normal by then).

There’s a long Annual Governance Statement and another Accounting Statement which seem OK  (apart from one or two very minor errors, subsequently put right), impressively complicated and involving a lot of money.

And the Guildhall is closed, of course, with Shopmobility and the Information Centre (not sure why they can’t hold their council meetings in the Guildhall, which is vast, so has plenty of room for the councillors to keep well away from each other, and they seem to have working microphones now.  Members of the public?  How often am I the only one? Still they know best).

So everyone’s working from home, including staff.  Bemerton Heath and the Friary Centres, with the allotments, have had to close but the toilets are due to open soon (although with Debenhams going we’re sadly about to lose another useful one).

WC’s Communities Team has been working with Wessex Communities Action to organise distribution of food parcels to those who need them and advising folk during this difficult time. The team will also decide when the Information Centre and Shop Mobility can safely be opened again.

They’re looking forward to the reopening of the shops in the High Street that are still closed and there’ll be City Ambassadors around to advise and generally help out when the time comes.

So, although most SCC events have been cancelled until August 31, including the carnival, at least we still have the market. Good.