Opening parks would ease lockdown pressures – The Yorkshire Post says

Yet the political argument in Middlesbrough about the reopening of parks does highlight wider sensitivities about the issue – and why Boris Johnson now needs to provide some much-needed clarity.

The dilemma is this. As this newspaper has previously reported, people living in the Yorkshire Dales, North York Moors and other beauty spots genuinely fear for their health if the easing of the lockdown is not managed.

But there is emerging evidence that the Covid-19 pandemic, this generation’s greatest health, economic and societal challenge, is leading to a mental health pandemic as people suffer from so-called ‘cabin fever’.

For, while many families have discovered new doorstep walks and would be keen for Welcome to Yorkshire to showcase them in the county’s new tourism strategy, people living in some cities – and built-up areas – are less fortunate.

Closure of parks denies them wide open spaces to reinvigorate and refresh their minds if they’re to fully comply with rules on unnecessary travel and so on.

Yet such areas could be utilised more effectively if the Government confirmed that it was safe to do so, and within reason, if visitors were not in one of the Covid ‘at risk’ categories. It would be a small step, but a significant one, on helping people come to terms with the changes that they will now be expected to make to their routine, and lifetsyle, for the foreseeable future.

Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.

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James Mitchinson

Editor