Tier 4 - Leisure Services To Close

South Tyneside Council will continue to deliver almost all services and will deploy additional resources to support residents and businesses who may be adversely affected by the new restrictions imposed by Tier 4.

Most Council buildings are now closed for the Christmas period but will reopen on Monday 4th January with the exception of Leisure Services which will have to remain closed as part of Tier 4 restrictions. 

In line with the Government's announcement, all of South Tyneside's leisure facilities; Haven Point, Hebburn Central, Jarrow Community Pool, Jarrow Focus, Monkton Stadium, Simonside Climbing Wall and Temple Park Centre will have to stay closed until further notice. All duo and multi-activity leisure memberships have been frozen.

Libraries will operate with a limited service from The Word in South Shields and Jarrow Focus sites only. Library users will still be able to pre-order books over the phone for collection and reserve access to libraries' public computers for essential use, on a strict appointment-only basis. 

The Word, National Centre for the Written Word in South Shields, will be open by appointment only, closing at 2pm on New Year's Eve and reopen from 10am on Saturday 2 January. 

The Library at Jarrow Focus will reopen for pre booked appointments from Saturday 2 January. All other libraries will remain closed. 

The Home Readers Library Service will continue to operate as normal. Library users will be able to hold onto books until restrictions are lifted. No new fines will be implemented at this time. Library users can also still access the range of online library services including the complete collection of eBooks in South Tyneside's Digital Library.

South Tyneside Register Office will also close at 1pm on New Year's Eve before reopening as normal at 9am on Monday 4 January. 

All waste services and bin collections will continue to operate with some festive changes in place. Visit www.southtyneside.gov.uk/waste for more information. The 'Even Plate, Even Date / Odd Plate, Odd Date' system will remain in place at the Recycling Village in South Shields. The site is open every day from 8am to 6pm.

Parks, beaches and playgrounds will remain open - essentially for exercise or to visit with people from the same household, a support bubble or with one person from another household. Car parks will also remain open. However, in accordance with the guidance, people are asked to minimise travel, stay local and take exercise close to home, wherever possible.

Emergency and essential services will be maintained for the rest of the festive period. These include, the Integrated Safeguarding Interventions and Let's Talk teams, on (0191) 456 2093. South Tyneside Homes emergency repairs service is available on 0300 123 6633.
 
The Customer Contact Centre, available on (0191 427 7000) will be closed on New Year's Day, 1 January. In case of emergencies when the Customer Contact centre is closed, the Out of Hours team will be available on (0191) 455 6111.

A Spokesperson for South Tyneside Council said: "Despite the changing restrictions, as a Council we have been able to put in place new measures and good practices developed to enable us to continue providing services in a covid secure way. It means we're able to keep running 'business as usual' as much as possible.

"Almost all of our services will continue to be delivered within Tier 4, albeit some slightly differently. Once the Christmas period is over all council services will operate as normal with the exception of leisure and libraries. Support services are being stepped up. This includes support for the Borough's most at risk residents, families experiencing hardship and the business community with more details to follow."

The Council urges everyone to continue following the rules around Hands, Face and Space as well as the current guidance on staying home and restrictions on households mixing. Residents are also encouraged to 'be a good neighbour' where they can, to check in with friends and families and those around them in their communities as we work together to keep people safe.

The Council's website is updated in real time and is the best source of information about any changes to local services. For updates on any service disruption or for details of the advice and support services available, visit South Tyneside Council's website at www.southtyneside.gov.uk/coronavirus for follow on social media: Facebook STynesideCouncil and on Twitter @STyne_Council 

Information about the Government's Tier restrictions, including the guidance for individual services or business sectors, can be found on the Government website at www.gov.uk 

Full details of opening hours over the New Year period are available on the Council's website at www.southtyneside.gov.uk