Minack gets green light as outdoor life restarts
THE Minack Theatre in Cornwall will be allowed to put on shows again from this weekend, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden announced yesterday.
Outdoor swimming pools in England will also begin reopening from Saturday, with indoor pools, gyms and other sports facilities to follow on July 25.
In the latest easing of lockdown restrictions, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has also published guidance to enable competitive grassroots team sports to resume, beginning with cricket this weekend.
Outdoor arts performances – including theatres, opera, dance and music – will also be able to resume from the weekend although audience numbers will be restricted and will be subject to social distancing rules.
In a Downing Street press conference, Mr Dowden said: “Theatregoers can experience a live play for the first time in months at places like the stunning Minack Theatre in Cornwall.”
He said a change in planning rules will also mean theatres, concert halls and live music venues will be protected from demolition or change of use by developers.
The reopening of theatre will come as another welcome relief for the Westcountry’s beleaguered hospitality and tourism industry.
On Wednesday Rishi Sunak, announced a £30 billion package to get Britain back on its feet, including a VAT cut to help the visitor economy, and a discount scheme for eating out.
This is an opportunity to rethink the way our whole economy works and to build back better
TOM SCOTT
THE VAT cut for hospitality, holiday accommodation and attractions, announced by the Chancellor on Wednesday, “lifted my soul”, Rick Turner, chair of the South West Tourism Alliance, said yesterday.
Mr Turner, owner of The Big Sheep attraction in North Devon, added: “I was near the end of my tether working out how we were even going to pay our costs for the summer.
“This gives us an incentive.” However, Malcolm Bell, chief executive of Visit Cornwall, said the temporary cut, from 20% VAT to 5%, was making work for some small businesses that were ill-equipped to deal with it.
He said that some had reported being swamped by calls from customers who had paid VAT last week and were now demanding a refund.
The government’s official advice does not suggest that businesses are obliged to pass on the savings to customers – and with social distancing forcing most to accommodate far fewer visitors, the extra money is likely to prove to be a lifeline.
Mr Turner said that since reopening last Friday, he had been operating with only 25 to 30% of normal customer numbers.
In his £30 billion “Summer Statement”, Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, also announced an “Eat Out to Help Out” scheme, offering a discount of up to £10 a head to get people back to restaurants, cafes and pubs.
Mr Bell said that the many small eateries in Cornwall could struggle to access the scheme, while their big-chain neighbours would use it to lure diners away. The scheme would have been better held back until September and October.
“It’s already quite busy in August, and a lot of locals will be saying they can’t use the scheme with all the holidaymakers around.”
Kevin Georgel, chief executive of St Austell Brewery, said: “Our customers will be able to take full advantage of the ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ initiative in all of our managed pubs, throughout August.
“This scheme is particularly welcome for hospitality businesses in the South West region as tourism, and trading throughout the summer season are of vital importance to us.”
He also applauded the temporary VAT cut, which he said would “help us on the road to recovery and enable us to protect jobs and livelihoods”.
Cornwall Green Party called halfprice meals “a half-baked response to the massive challenges we face”.
Spokesman Tom Scott said: “The meal vouchers scheme is a headline-catching gimmick that will do little to help bring people back to pubs and restaurants. People will have the confidence to gather safely again only when there is an effective contact tracing system in place, and the government’s cack-handed approach to this means that England is way behind other European countries in getting the virus under control.”
Mr Scott said the pandemic was doing huge damage to jobs and livelihoods. “There’s no doubt that we’re now facing a recession worse than anything since the 1930s.
“But this is also an unprecedented opportunity to rethink the way our whole economy works and to build back better for a more secure and sustainable future.
“The government’s own Committee
on Climate Change has said that Covid-19 should be an historic turning point in tackling the global climate crisis.
“Unfortunately, despite the rhetoric about a ‘green recovery’, Rishi Sunak’s statement shows that the government is failing to take this opportunity.”
Mr Sunak re-announced a £3 billion package for decarbonising housing and public buildings.
Vouchers worth £5,000 and up to £10,000 for poorer families will be made available to retrofit homes with insulation.
Mr Scott said the voucher scheme would cover fewer than 3% of homes in England and would have an impact on UK emissions estimated at just 0.14%.
He welcomed the cut in VAT – something the Green Party has long called for. “This will certainly help Cornwall’s hospitality sector, which has been particularly hard-hit by the crisis, and we hope it is made permanent,” Mr Scott said.
He added: “The government’s main aim appears to be to set the UK economy back on the same path as before, as if we were not facing a climate emergency that dwarfs the coronavirus in terms of the damage that it will do if not tackled effectively.”
On Wednesday, Mr Sunak announced that businesses will be paid £1,000 to retain furloughed staff, but Mr Bell from Visit Cornwall said he feared that would add to redundancies in Cornwall.
“These are local people who have been employed for many years, they are not just seasonal workers.
He said many businesses would take the option of closing down altogether through the unprofitable November-May period rather than operating at a loss.
The Government should instead have adopted a “flexible furlough” scheme to target specific sectors, such as tourism and hospitality.