There must be many people like me who, at the same time as being delighted at the easing of lockdown restrictions, are less enthusiastic about the return of so much that made life stressful in our pre-Covid lives.

After a year of using the car only for a weekly visit to the supermarket, the return to ‘normal’ traffic levels has come as something of a shock.

Perhaps the lack of cars on the road during lockdown was a contributory factor in the vote to cancel the bypass – if so, it was short-sighted.

We may have revelled in the sound of birdsong, enjoyed the drop in pollution levels, but surely it was clear that it would be a temporary change in our lives.

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With more leisure time on their hands and outdoors the only place to go, it was little wonder that so many people have embraced walking and cycling over the past year.

But will these people continue to get around at a more leisurely pace once their social lives kick back in and life is once again filled with things we have to do and places we have to go?

Ferrying the kids to all their clubs on the back of a bike may sound like a good plan, but in reality it’s impractical.

In a rural county like ours, we rely on our cars – even if we’ve not had to use them too much for 12 months. But the world is opening up again and the new normal is sure to include sitting in stationary traffic on Ross Road or Belmont Road again.

Angela Harrison
Ewyas Harold

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