Heybridge Basin Parish Council has decided to re-open the Daisy Meadow car park on Wednesday, 31 March.

However, with no toilet facilities available to visitors in the Basin, as the pubs and tearooms remain closed to dining in over the Easter weekend, councillors at a meeting last Thursday (25 March) took the decision with a degree of reluctance.

The car park was temporarily closed back on 15 January after hundreds of visitors flocked to the area in the third lockdown and at the peak of local infection rates. The Basin's narrow paths and the small area meant that social distancing was not possible. You can read a report on that published at the time using the link here.

Councillor Anne Beale said: "We're victims of our own success because it's such a nice place to visit, but with a lack of enforcement of any kind on the parking issues, we don't have much choice."

With the car park closed, a number of visitors have been parking in village streets. This has caused some concerns over traffic safety and "confrontation" with villagers.

Councillor Keith Lawson added: "We won't have any toilet facilities for some time to come, but the visitors will come and there will be confrontation in the village when they come - so we can diffuse some of that by having the car parks open."

Cllr Beale added: "We're still going to get people coming either way and we know from what we've seen that there's no social distancing going on.

"Whichever way we turn, we're not going to win. It's whatever residents think they can best cope with."

The meeting was called specifically to discuss the car park re-opening and the committee asked villagers who attended for their opinion - only to find a fifty-fifty split for and against re-opening Daisy Meadow.

Following a short debate, councillors voted to re-open the car park.