We are all living in interesting times, such as we have never seen before and hopefully will not repeat!

There are so many of you out there working, volunteering, caring in very difficult circumstances and on behalf of North Somerset: 'Thank You'!

But life that can only be seen via microscopes is significantly affecting North Somerset and the Council is not immune to this either.

You will have seen the pressures on all of our services, with lots of staff quite rightly following the Covid self-isolation guidelines to keep us all safe. But clearly that means gaps and us having to make very difficult decisions on services, on those front facing ones like waste we have endeavoured to keep services going, only stopping green waste collections when we have no more staff left to pick up the public health priority waste and reviewing resources daily.

On our social care services, we are of course prioritising the most vulnerable. Both council and NHS community care staff have done an incredible job throughout the pandemic keeping services running and helping those in need. But the pressure on them goes on and on and they are affected by Covid cases and the need to isolate just like everyone else.

So, our plea is to bear with us all as we navigate our way through this, spare a thought for the hardworking frontline staff in care, health and in critical services like waste, supermarkets, transport, emergency services and so on. And please keep doing your bit to help North Somerset stay safe.

Viruses and bacteria have also affected our leisure provision too, with the weather of a decidedly Mediterranean variety we have had to flush out both Weston and Clevedon Marine Lakes, due to water contamination and to do some safety checks of any potential hazards in the silt. Let us hope that when you read this, news of reopening dates and a vibrant summer is imminent.

This is another different summer for us all, despite the easing of restrictions, so we do wish all readers some time for relaxation, be it at home, in our wonderful North Somerset coast and countryside, or further afield.

North Somerset Council leader Don Davies and deputy leader Mike Bell.