Mayor Buma has suggested that people wanting to shop in Leeuwarden spread their trips across the day
Translated by Thomas Ansell
Mayor Sybrand Buma (CDA) has made an appeal to Leeuwarders not to crowd the city centre this weekend- as Leeuwarden continues to see Coronavirus case numbers rise. Mayor Buma asked that people, for example, think about going shopping in the morning or later afternoon following large crowds last weekend in the city. The Gemeente Leeuwarden will bring in new regulations to help stop any crowds forming, reports the Omrop Fryslân.
The Wirdumerdijk and Nieuwstad shopping streets will be pedestrianised on Saturday afternoon: “this is to ensure that there’s no unnecessary traffic in the city”, says Buma. “The edge of the city centre will have information boards that will tell people how busy it is. It’s also important that people do not all go to the city centre on Saturday afternoon. One of the main rules we are trying to enforce is: no crowds.”
The current national Coronavirus regulations are up for review in the coming week. Mayor Buma did not say whether he thought that new regulations would be brought in: “it’s difficult because this weekend is actually a bit too early to see if the current regulations work. You’ll only see that after the weekend.” Buma, aside from being Mayor of Leeuwarden, is also the head of the Veiligheidsregio Fryslân.
“I can’t predict if the cabinet will say that anything else needs to happen. We now need to see what the effects of the last packet of regulations will be. It’s still too early”, said Buma.
Image (of the Nieuwestad in Leeuwarden) by Wikimedia user Weefemwe. License here.
