Opinion: ‘What next, after the pandemic?’

The best time to plan for the future is before it has arrived.

Yes, we are deep in the pandemic; Professor Chris Whitty (pictured) has said that these weeks may be the most challenging yet.

My colleagues, my business associates, are all used to Zoom calls.

I have a surgical mask with me at all times, as well as a bottle of antiseptic gel.

These things have become typical and normal.

However, there will come a time when the pandemic is in the past.

It won’t be necessary to take all the extra precautions or keep away from one’s family. Children will return to school. We will be reunited with loved ones living in care homes.

However, we have been contending with the coronavirus for nearly a year now. Lockdowns have been a feature of life since last March. Habits of mind and attitude no doubt have been altered in ways both obvious and subtle. Social distancing has an implied cost of atomising our society. Are we prepared as a city and as a country for the rebuilding effort?

Once the pandemic is behind us, we will need to look to our communities. The lack of human contact is not great for enhancing links between people. Our charitable organisations and faith groups have done outstanding work in trying to keep people fed and their spirits up; we will need to work with them to bring people back together. The rhythms of “normal” life will take time to restore when the time is right, the council should organise events for families to visit our parks alongside other places, to encourage interaction again.

We will also need to take time to count the cost; I propose that a day is selected when we hold a memorial service for those who have succumbed due to the pandemic. We should put a marker on Cathedral Square to record the events of 2020 and 2021. The Labour Group with do all it can to help just as we have done throughout the pandemic. Forgetting in this situation would be unconscionable.

We will also need to anticipate what has changed forever.

I suspect that office space and retail space are unlikely to be in as much demand as they were in 2019. In order to ensure that we adapt to the new digital culture, we need to be a digital city: while many parts of Peterborough have good broadband available, we should ask: is it consistent?

Is it affordable? Can people on low incomes access it? How do we ensure access?

I have very little sense that the current administration is thinking along these lines.

To a certain extent, this is understandable: the Conservatives both locally and nationally, have been tripped up by the pandemic, and sometimes one develops tunnel vision when fighting through a crisis.

However, crisis management is only part of the role of government; the Labour Group and I are of the firm belief that a better future isn’t made out of merely managing disaster, rather, it is through learning lessons, looking to the horizons, and charting a new path.