The following is an explanation of why it is not possible to use the Community Centre as a polling station for this upcoming election.
This election should haven taken place in May 2020, but was cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic. In October 2020 the Trust was contacted by the local Electoral Office regarding bookings for 2021, and after discussion at a Trust meeting, it was agreed that we would inform the Electoral Office that only a provisional booking was possible until such time as the situation regarding nationwide infections/lockdowns became clearer.
In early February this year correspondence was received from Herefordshire Council asking the Trustees to confirm the booking, and enclosing conditions that had to be adhered to. One condition was that there had to be a one-way system in operation for access to and from the premise. This proved to be impossible to implement without compromising the health and safety of all staff and children in areas both internal and external in daily use by them all.  The matter was discussed at a meeting of the Trustees in February, following which the Electoral Office was advised by the Lettings Secretary that unfortunately it was not possible to operate a one-way system, nor comply with Covid restrictions, so regrettably the premise not available for hire.
The Trust regret that this may be inconvenient to some parishioners, but advise that postal votes are available by contacting the Electoral Office on 01432 260107, or electoralcommission.org.uk/voter.
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