VIRUS STOLE
between wanting lockdown lifted and wanting it to remain emain in place, or, more pertinently, lifted fted with the caveat of support.
“Let me give ve you an example,” said aid Mr Evans. “What t if we were allowed d to trade again in, n, say, August, because ecause Westminster wants us to. But does es Westminster understand nderstand somewhere like ke Ceredigion? They need to understand what could happen.
“It would be e great to have people back on the boat, but from our point nt of view, even if we are really careful areful with all sorts of safety ty measures, working ng at
20% capacity ty with everyone wearing masks, what about the town as a whole?
“We will effectively be inviting a lot of people to New Quay, a town which is not very big. What we’re hoping for is to be told categorically whether we can open or whether we can’t. It can’t be ambiguous.”
While the UK Government has taken the lead on lockdown measures, the Welsh Government does have devolved powers to manage its own restrictions. First Minister Mark Drakeford announced “modest adjustments” to the Welsh lockdown on Friday, changes which do not affect the tourism trade.
Mr Evans said: “If the Government open up tourism again and we are allowed to run our trips, then people need to realise that thousands of people will come to Ceredigion, and social distancing cannot be done within the tourism industry. Businesses in this sector have different requirements. How can you social distance when the whole point of the business is for people to be on a boat together in one place?
“If we do start running again we will be partly responsible for getting loads of people to New Quay, and we could see a massive spike in coronavirus cases.
“But if we can’t reopen we need the grants to continue and the furlough scheme to continue.
“The worst case scenario for us is if the tourism industry is opened up again but there is no support given to the people who run it; if it’s just assumed that we are the same as other businesses; if there’s no special consideration given to the fact that we cannot operate and socially isolate at the same time.
“Ceredigion has dealt with the crisis well and we have been lucky with the numbers we have seen, but we don’t know how this part of the world would cope with a surge in cases.”
Another businessman who is feeling the pinch is Dylan Davies. He owns The Captain’s Rendezvous, a local chippy. He says the town is paralysed in a “catch-22” dilemma.
“I I closed for six weeks but we reopened last Saturday because we had to,” he explained. “We’ve had a grant from the council but we’ve had no support from elsewhere, and to be honest with you it’s been abysmal. “It’s very quiet. I normally have 15 people working here but at the moment it’s just me, my wife, my son and one other person that comes in at night to clean. If the lockdown is lifted then our business will of course pick up. But, w what will that bring with it?
“It “It’s a catch-22 scenario. People have been very wise to stay away from New Quay due to what’s going on but at th the same time it’s very frustrating beca because we rely on people coming here, on people coming into the shop.
“I’m hoping that the local trade will see us u through until we get back to norm normal. So far, from what I’ve seen, they’ they’re afraid to come back.”
He added: “It’s not going to get back to no normal this year, no way. We are going to go straight from one winter to anoth another. It’s very worrying.”
Fo For the people of New Quay who rely o on the trade of summer tourists, the timing ti of the lockdown could not be much m worse. This is when they make their money. Their summer tim time is when they pay for their winte ter time.
One pub landlord wants to open. He misses his locals, but he knows that any easing of restrictions could pave the way for more economic pain further down the line.
“I’ve been the landlord here for 19 months and I’ve lived in New Quay for 20 years,” said Colin Sharp, who runs the Sea Horse Inn and also owns shops in Aberaeron and Aberystwyth.
“Altogether I’ve worked in retail for 54 years and I’ve never experienced anything like this. I’ve had to furlough 13 staff across the board, and we’re thankful for that – the Government has been really good with that scheme.
“But there’s talk that it might drop from 80% of wages to 60%, and then it’s a real worry. These people have mortgages, they have kids.
“What I miss the most is the people. Every morning we had a number of elderly people coming in to play drafts, dominoes and chess, and it was a pleasure to open up the pub for them. One of my regulars is 82, and he would sit in the pub all day – not drinking, just having a cup of tea and some toast.
“I miss that. The only thing that’s kept me going is walks with another couple of locals. We social distance of course but we can walk down on the beach. That gives me something to look forward to every day.”
He added: “I would open tomorrow if I could,” said Mr Sharp. “I’m skint, and I’ve still got bills to pay.
“Look at the Easter weekend we had – the weather was glorious, and we’ve missed all of that. We rely on the summer. Everyone here relies on the summer, apart from 10 days or so over Christmas.
“But of course we worry about social distancing and about coronavirus; we’ve been worried since the start. We also have to worry about what could happen in the future – we don’t want to reopen too soon only to