Mayor of Watford Peter Taylor on Vibe107.6

During times of crisis, the elected Mayor of Watford, Peter Taylor, spoke to Vibe107.6 FM presenter Benjy Potter

During times of crisis, the elected Mayor of Watford, Peter Taylor, spoke to Vibe107.6 FM presenter Benjy Potter.

Sharing information, his condolences, pride, and advice, Mr Taylor gave his take on Covid-19 and the increasing effect that it is having on the Watford community.

Following the tragic death of Watford General nursing assistant John Alagos on Friday, the Mayor said:

“It has been a really sad start to the week. The news about John passing away at Watford General aged only 24 was such a sad thing to have happened. He was an amazing person, helping people that had Coronavirus.

“We flew our flag at half mast outside the town hall in respect for his family and friends. Lots of people have donated to support his family. A really tragic thing to have happened.

It is so important for the heroes working at the NHS to have all the personal protection equipment (PPE) that they need. I have raised this with the Chief Executive of the hospital and they are getting more PPE, but they need to have that protection.”

On Saturday, Watford General Hospital declared a critical incident regarding a lack of vital supplies, including Oxygen. Staff had to tell the public not to come to the hospital in an emergency and some patients were moved out. The Mayor said:

“We had the situation with the hospital closing due to its oxygen system and its equipment there. I’m pressing for that to be upgraded, so that people on the front line get all the support that they need.

“We need to make sure that our NHS can do their fantastic jobs and that staff get support.

“It brings home the importance of following advice, social distancing and staying at home. The NHS is under so much pressure at the moment, so we all have to play our part.”

Following the closure of the Cassiobury Park car park, Mayor Taylor addressed those not following advice and invited them to ‘play by the rules’, the consequences of rebelling, something that could potentially affect everyone.

“The vast majority of people are following the rules,” he said.

“There are a small number of people behaving in a reckless way though. On Saturday we closed the Cassiobury car park. It was really busy first thing on Saturday, but Sunday was better.

“People can go out for an hour, we know that it is good for people’s well being and mental health to get exercise and to get outdoors. But we can’t have people congregating. If we do then the virus will spread more quickly and more lives will be lost.

“We have got to follow the NHS advice and not gather in large groups at places like Cassiobury Park.

“We want to keep our parks open because we know how much people enjoy using them. But the government are being really clear. Unless people follow the rules then there will be even stricter regulations on going out and we will see more lives lost.”

Taking pride in those working hard for our community, Mr Taylor was disappointed with how some people have caused friction with those in place to help.

“It is really important that people follow this advice. The police are making sure it is enforced. We had some crazy things said to the police over the weekend, including some saying that they don’t care about the rules,” Taylor said.

“People have to follow the rules.

“I am really impressed with the pharmacies working flat out, nursery school workers making sure that nurses and doctors can still go to work and with volunteers as well. The vast majority of people are really sensible about this and realise that the council, have to make do in a really difficult situation.

“We have fantastic staff working all hours to try and make sure that residents get a good service. We are though, in a global pandemic.”

Concluding the interview on Vibe107.6 with a green bin update, the Mayor of Watford explained:

“Green bins are for garden and food waste and from the 20^th of April, we will sadly have to stop collecting those green bins.

“The crew in our area are doing brilliant work and have carried on as long as they can, but they are very stretched. Over the next two weeks, anyone living in Watford can get their green bins collected but that will be the last time.

“After that, people will need to put food waste into the black general waste bins and you’ll have to store garden waste or compost and keep it until the service is brought back as soon as we can.

“More waste will be taken to landfill. It is not something that we wanted to do, but lots of councils have done this. We’ve held off for as long as possible. Many of our drivers are self-isolating.

“Huge credit to everyone still collecting our bins, but we are going to have to make this change. We are still collecting people’s recycling and that is good for the environment.

“We are very conscious that people who don’t have access to the internet might not know about this. Please let older residents know and help get the word out about this change.”