Visitor numbers at Staffordshire gardens spark concerns

Trentham Gardens has put in a series of measures to keep visitors and staff safe and reduce Covid-19 risks, including timed entry slots and a one-way system around the lakeside. Visitors are also asked to use a new exit bridge, keep two metres apart and stay no longer than two hours.

But Stafford Borough Council member Michael Dodson said his wife had seen more people at the site than on previous occasions before the pandemic.

He called on the authority’s environmental health department to examine the Trentham Estate’s current Covid-19 precautions and check that they were being adhered to.

His concerns come just weeks after 22 cases of Covid-19 were linked to the Crown and Anchor pub in nearby Stone.

Speaking at a scrutiny committee meeting last week he said: “We really need to ensure that we do not have any further spikes.

“My wife has just come back from Trentham and she found that although they were letting people in on time slots the number of people who were already in the park was enormous. She was a regular visitor to the park pre-Covid and said there were more people in the park today, with the fine weather, than she had ever seen before.

“She and her friend seemed to be the only people wearing masks and there was very little evidence of social distancing.

“If we don’t maintain our vigilance as a borough we will have another spike and all of our recovery planning will go out of the window.”

But Robert Simpson, the council’s head of operations, responded: “All premises are asked to carry out a risk assessment and they need to put controls in place, such as the number of people on the premises. We feel Trentham have got compliance with social distancing and other management.

“However, if there was any problem we would send out an environmental health officer to ensure compliance with Government guidance.”

Councillor Mike Smith said: “I was in Trentham this morning and it was quite quiet. You are obliged to walk around the lake one way and there is information if you go on their website.

“Councillor Dodson is right – you go in on a time slot. But if it is a good day people could have stayed longer.

“As you leave you go out of a different bit and they count you out so they know how many people are in and how many have gone out. It shouldn’t be difficult for them to say ‘only x amount of people have left so we can’t let any more in.’

Speaking after the meeting Councillor Jonathan Price, cabinet member for environment, said: “This is a well-run organisation who have taken their responsibilities around Covid-19 measures seriously.

“We were in contact with them prior to their reopening, following lockdown, and discussed the robust measures they were putting in place to mitigate the spread of the virus. We will speak to them again so as to reassure people that the appropriate guidance is being adhered to.”

Trentham Estate director Alastair Budd said: “It is incredibly important that our visitors feel safe when they are at Trentham and we have put several procedures in place to be able to achieve this.

“Firstly, we have implemented a limited capacity, pre-booking system, for entry into the gardens that ensures that we are able to manage how many people enter the gardens at any one time. This daily capacity is 50% of our usual operating capacity and we have not yet been in a situation where we have filled this.

“When they arrive onsite, these pre-bookers are managed by a numbered queue system, where they are always kept 3m apart. On busier days we also have visible staff members to help organise and efficiently operate the queue to avoid any issues.

“As a company we also do our own internal health and safety spot checks to make sure that the rules above are being followed at all times.”