I spoke to Greg Campbell from Brentwood Council about the new changes. You can hear it again here:

Essex County Council and Brentwood Borough Council have been working together to make the town centre safer for people during the COVID-19 crisis. Called ‘Safer, Greener, Healthier’, the scheme aims to help social distancing by providing larger, safer spaces in key locations for town centre shoppers, residents, workers and visitors.

Brentwood High Street will be closed to vehicles, except for buses and cycles from 4 July.

Blue badge parking on the High Street will be relocated to St Thomas’s Road. There are additional blue badge parking spaces available at the William Hunter Way, Chatham Way and multi-storey car parks.

To find out more about how the scheme will work, please visit the Safer, Greener, Healthier Brentwood page on the Essex Highways website.

Brentwood Council is asking for feedback, comments and ideas and say that they will quickly alter the measures as needed. If they are successful, some changes could become permanent, as part of Essex County Council’s move to more sustainable forms of transport. Comments can be sent by email to SGH.Routes@essex.gov.uk.

Brentwood Council will be gathering the views of residents, visitors and businesses to help assess the success or otherwise of these measures on the High Street. Essex County Council will conduct a survey as well as having staff present in the town centre to collect feedback.

If you have any questions about the interim measures for the High Street, please email business@brentwood.gov.uk.