THE TIERS OF SEPARATION
NEIGHBOURS’ STREET CUT IN HALF AS PORTSMOUTH, GOSPORT AND HAVANT ARE PLACED INTO TIER THREE IN WAR ON CORONAVIRUS
NEIGHBOURS who have shared the same street for 35 years will be living under different coronavirus rules this weekend after their road was split in two by new restrictions.
Portsdown Road, in Paulsgrove, has been sliced down the middle after it was announced that Portsmouth was moving into the highest tier three category from Saturday.
In a peculiar twist of fate, the street straddles the boundary line between Portsmouth City Council, which is facing the tightest restrictions, and Fareham Borough Council, which remains in tier two.
It means that while those on the Fareham side can still entertain a limited number of friends and family in their gardens, their neighbours living opposite on the Portsmouth side are banned from meeting anyone outside their bubble in their gardens.
Gary Goff and his wife Kathy have lived in the street since 1985 but are now bracing themselves to enter tier three restrictions.
While their friends Paul and Daphne Nicholls – who also moved into the street in 1985 – will remain in the lower category.
Aircraft mechanic Gary, 62, said: ‘It’s funny really. The whole thing is just so bizarre and confusing.
‘Our daughter, who lives in Horndean, is in tier two but by Christmas we will be in tier three.
‘Now it means we can’t all combine unless we’re having granny sat out in a field for dinner.
‘They’re leaving it up to us what we do. But we’ve had 30 years of Christmases at ours, so we don’t mind having a quiet one this year.’
Kathy added she was baffled by the new restrictions but said that despite the divide, the community would still find a way to come together.
‘When we talk to friends across the road, we tend to stand on one side of the street and shout across – so that won’t change,’ she insisted.
Neighbour Daphne, 65, was perplexed by the bizarre split of the street.
‘That’s life really, isn’t it?,’ she added. ‘It’s just unfortunate that we’re in Fareham and our virus rate is lower than Portsmouth’s.
‘It’s very difficult to make differentiations between one side of the road and the other because there’s obviously not much difference between us and them, it’s just down to a postcode lottery.’
Husband Paul, 69, added: ‘It’s just a shame it is like it is.’
Nigel Hodges, lives on the tier two side of the street and felt the rules were ‘pretty logical’.
The 58-year-old told The News: ‘They have got to draw the line somewhere – I guess it is here.
‘We can have a six-person garden party and the people across the road can’t – of course we wouldn’t do that. It is very strange.’
The new sanctions come into effect on Saturday, following an announcement by health secretary Matt Hancock yesterday afternoon.
The five-day relaxation of coronavirus rules over for the Christmas period is still going ahead, which will allow families from three households to get together over the festive season.
The restrictions will be eased between 23 and 27 December – but prime minister Boris Johnson urged people to ‘think hard’ before meeting friends and family.
Hospitality venues like bars, pubs, cafes and restaurants must close except for takeaway collection.
But Fareham, Winchester and East Hampshire will all remain in tier two.
Portsmouth City Council leader, Cllr Gerald VernonJackson, says going into tier three is crucial to ease pressure on Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham, and wants to know why these other areas haven’t been included.
He said: ‘There’s big pressure on QA Hospital at the moment and that is the driving force here. But what’s strange is that people in Fareham and East Hampshire also use QA, but will stay in tier two.
‘The government’s ability to get things right seems to be not great but the government has made a number of bizarre decisions, so it’s no surprise they have made another one.
‘The hospitality industry being shut down will make things difficult for businesses, but our numbers have been going up and we need to get that under control.
‘My advice is to be careful; don’t use all the freedoms available if you don’t have to.’
When travelling into tier two areas, people from tier three must observe the same rules as they do at home.
This means that although Fareham’s hospitality venues will remain open, people from Portsmouth, Gosport and Havant should not visit them.
Portsmouth Conservative Councillor Donna Jones told The News she posted on social media yesterday saying tier three was likely for Portsmouth, so restaurateurs and businesses would know as they order produce mid-week.
Cllr Jones said one business alone said it ‘saved thousands’ because of the early warning.
She said: ‘That’s the reason I shared it yesterday, following the official council briefing I had yesterday lunchtime because I know how many businesses were hurt so badly (at the end) of March beginning of April when we had lockdown.
‘They lost thousands, some businesses in Pompey lost £20,000 of produce.
‘We lost small businesses, independent traders in the hospitality industry because of that.’
Independent businesses are the ones that will be the worst hit, is is feared.
One such company is The Reilly Enterprise in Gosport, which organises indoor and outdoor events – all of which will now be cancelled.
Founder Charlie Reilly said: ‘ Our annual turnover this year is about 10 per cent of what it usually is.
‘There were Christmas events and outdoor go-karting sessions planned for next week, but that will all now be refunded instead.
‘We will do everything we can to continue operating but this is a massive blow for us.’
Charlie’s husband Johnny had even taken on a part-time job to help cover the business costs.
David Moore, director of the Abar restaurant in Southsea, said that entering tier three gave his firm clarity as it will not have to cover many overheads, such as wages.
He said: ‘If I am honest, it’s a sense of relief, we will lose less money by being closed.
‘Tier two has been excruciating with single households, no drinkers without substantial meals, we have been taking in a quarter of what we normally would and have
had to throw away food, last weekend we threw away 40kg of mussels.
‘By being closed we will know exactly how much we are going to lose, and if they move us back to tier two, I am not sure if we would reopen as it’s not worth coming out for from our recent experience.’
Hampshire Chamber, which provides advice for businesses across the county, has taken the stance that mass workplace testing is the key to getting the country back up and running.
Chief executive and executive chairman Ross McNally said: ‘This is dreadful news for families, communities and businesses, especially those in the hospitality sector who have already been hit extremely hard by the impact of the pandemic.
‘The priority must be to get the whole of Hampshire into tier one as quickly as we can. The only way to achieve that is to follow the guidance as we await the roll-out of the vaccine programme. For its part, the government must urgently improve test and trace, with more emphasis on mass workplace testing, and continue to provide financial help to those businesses struggling to stay afloat.
‘Hampshire firms have consistently demonstrated their resilience but we need to make sure the county benefits from as much government support that can be made available so we can emerge from this crisis as quickly and strongly as possible.