Relax Outdoor Restrictions

Currently, all activities are ‘door to door’, which disproportionately affects those who live in inner cities. No-one is allowed to stop moving whilst outside. I believe this is unnecessary.

Allowing people to travel a reasonable distance to exercise or sit down outside on the grass and have a picnic, play on the beach or travel to the the forest for walks - whilst maintaining existing social distancing measures, would not increase individual risk unacceptably. This would also help maintain public morale and support for other restrictive measures, ease the mental strain on individuals and families and help keep idle minds active.

Why the contribution is important

It reduces the mental strains felt by isolation, and frustrations felt for individuals with little access to outdoor spaces.

It will boost public morale and support for the governments measures - proving that measures are balanced and appropriate.

It respects existing social distancing measures, and does not increase risk unnecessarily.

by RP on May 05, 2020 at 04:33PM

Current Rating

Average rating: 4.8
Based on: 55 votes

Comments

  • Posted by ljk84 May 05, 2020 at 16:38

    I absolutely support this idea. By allowing people to travel a short distance, within their city, to other areas for walks etc would massively help physical and mental wellbeing. We have a beautiful country with vast outdoor space which should be utilised. I believe this must be one of the first steps to easing current restrictions particularly as outdoor areas are seen as lower risk

  • Posted by dbridge964 May 05, 2020 at 16:39

    More trust in the common sense of the vast majority would enhance co-operation where restrictions are needed.

  • Posted by scottmcmartin May 05, 2020 at 16:42

    Mental Health and lack of general exercise could have a last and long term affect on peoples health and well being for decades if easing of the 'outside' activity is not changed soon. For instance, everyone and literally their dog are using Golf Courses as their private play grounds. Yet golfers are not allowed to use the course that they have paid a membership for.

    Allow a saw an initial 5km as the crow flies, distance on home to course. Members only, with increased tee-times. No opening of Clubhouse/Locker rooms. All of these measures were put in place by golf clubs pre lock-down. Increase the travel distance in phases. This is what Ireland is doing.

  • Posted by ACW60 May 05, 2020 at 16:47

    It's a good idea in principle. I believe there will be a small minority who will ignore social distancing rules so this has to be managed. Also if people arrive at a chosen destination and the crowd limit has been reached for safe social distancing do you really think they will just return home!

  • Posted by FL May 05, 2020 at 16:49

    Totally agree - those of us stuck in city centre flats in crowded areas with no green spaces are living in conditions akin to prisons - the government seems to not care about our wellbeing at all- we need to be able to travel a short distance to spread out over a wider area of countryside in order to be able to go outdoors during the day and take out 1 hour exercise. Giving us 2 permitted exercise slots in our current conditions without being able to travel for it actually makes our problem even worse than it is right now- please please please will someone with an open mind in Govt listen to this and make a common sense risk based decision on what is worse- destroying the physical and mental wellbeing of those of us in this situation or looking at the Covid risk if you allowed that (so slight risk of braking down and coming into contact with an AA patrol man versus the risk of tens of thousands of us in a couple of square mile spreading the disease since we cannot get outside and stay 2m apart! Please look at the big picture and the decades of permanent harm you are doing right now.

  • Posted by lindyloo May 05, 2020 at 16:52

    If it's ok for us to stand 2 metres apart in a supermarket car park for 20 mins then go inside, how can having a picnic in a park or building sand castles on the beach be any more unsafe for us. We have to start thinking about the mental health of people in this lockdown. And it's all well and good to say we are preserving life but what about the quality of life.

  • Posted by Rosie May 05, 2020 at 16:53

    People already flout the social distancing rules and if they are allowed outside more than once a day they will do it even more. It is difficult to find somewhere to walk where there are not lots of other people and it is scary because dog walkers almost always have their dogs off their leads and the dogs want to come across to other people and sniff or jump up. If people were now allowed out more than once a day, especially if in “bubbles”, then I think it would become impossible to socially distance. I can understand that people without a garden would really appreciate more instances of going outside but those with a garden could be limited to once a day. Although how that could be policed, goodness only knows.

  • Posted by OwenVickers May 05, 2020 at 17:31

    Fully agree. We should not apply restrictions because a few people will not comply. We should come down harder on those who behave in a reckless way, and leave the vast majority to move freely outside in a socially distanced way. Opening up the freedom to travel any distance would further reduce social distancing risk. Scotland has huge areas of countryside that people could go to with minimal contact with others and plenty of space to stay safely distanced. Avoiding heavily congested honeypot sites neat towns and cities may be something to consider, but even that has limited risk if large groups of people are not gathering in relatively small areas. The further away we are from crowds the better from a Covid point of view.

  • Posted by HMW1956 May 05, 2020 at 17:47

    Allow people to go out at least twice a day for an hour each time to exercise in addition to one shopping trip per day. Once before 1400 and the other time for exercise to be completed before daylight ends.

  • Posted by GJTorrie May 05, 2020 at 21:07

    I agree we should open up public areas and allow sitting around provided social distancing is observed. But not swing parks etc where lots of children touch the same piece of equipment.

  • Posted by Elena May 06, 2020 at 22:24

    There also needs to be some consideration for those who can't exercise as much but would still benefit from the vitamin d and sunlight (for as long as it is available anyway).

    My friend for example has a very bad back and knees and cannot walk far at all. He is only going out once a week for his shopping and not getting any other sunlight exposure as his flat has smaller windows so not much natural light.. if he could go drive around in his car for an hour, or drive somewhere to just sit in the car, in the sun, and then drive home.. that brief outing once a day would not bring him into contact with others but would really help his mental health.

  • Posted by aloneinthehills May 08, 2020 at 11:09

    Totally agree. Access to the hills and coastline is essential for the health and wellbeing of the people of Scotland

  • Posted by xraypat May 08, 2020 at 14:26

    Totally agree...some of the restrictions are ludicrous especially here in a rural setting
    We can drive 10 or 20 minutes to deserted areas for exercise in open areas which is much better than walking the local streets where one meets lots of others doing the same
Log in or register to add comments and rate ideas