Confused about what constitutes Local Area.

[likeamillpond]

Apologies if this has been done to death.

I live 2 miles from my nearest park
Its in the same town.

Under the lockdown rules can I drive there?
Or walk?
How local is local?
Under 5 miles? 2? 1?

I just want somewhere green to walk around if possible, but I'm not prepared to break any rules.

We’re sticking to a max of a 15 min drive... I plucked that out of thin air but to me 15 min is local!

My rule of thumb this time is stay within your council boundary. That seems logical and reasonable for exercise purposes? What say you?

This is just nonsense.

My nearest local park is in another council area and is 7 minutes walk from where I live.

If I had a good walk, run or cycle around it I could end up doing a circle going through green space that is in one or two other council areas.

Depending on where you live that rule is not feasible or even slightly sensible.

I guess this thread just shows the Gov should define what they mean by ‘local’. And they need to be very specific

The reality is that too far is whatever the police think is too far. And they don't know the law either, they just know how to swoop and slap fines on people who were in fact doing nothing wrong.

My 2 pence. Unless you want to be the legal test case, don't drive anywhere nice. Even if you expect it will be quiet. Parks and beauty spots, anywhere walkers are expected, are being policed. It's not right but that's how it is now.

During the first lockdown the police here were only fining those who were blatently ignoring the guidelines - driving 2 hours from a different county and then wandering in groups around tourist towns and villages. They seemed to have a bit more sense than some other forces.

Defining local in distance terms doesn't work. In rural areas a hour away can be local.

@LastTrainEast

The main point would be. If you break down can you walk back without involving someone else?

Also if you'll be getting close to people who are also not local you''ll be doing your bit to spread it further. Especially useful if your area has cases of a variant.

That's a good rule of thumb. I would be able to walk home if I broke down .

I’m afraid to say the police got it wrong.

That comment was in relation to the Derbyshire case.

If you are in Derbyshire I wouldn't risk driving anywhere as the police have fined people for traveling as little as 5 milesto get to a reservoir, and for crossing from borough to another to get to a country park.

people moan about the rules but perhaps they need to be stricter .

in other countries when they had lockdown they could not even leave their homes for exercise - only for food or work and they had to have certification to say they could not work at home .

I hope that people just use their common sense - otherwise the guidance will be changed to law.

I think if I were fined by the police in Derbyshire I’d be minded to challenge the fine in court. In our area (not Derbyshire!), it makes much more sense to travel a few miles to a quieter area to exercise rather than exercising close to home on a busy housing estate with loads of other people out for exercise.

This quote from the BBC coverage of the Derbyshire incident is quite telling:

The BBC contacted the Cabinet Office, Home Office, College of Policing and National Police Chiefs' Council to ask for clarification over what they define as "local area" in relation to exercise. None could clarify this.