Nottingham is a very green city, with plenty of parks and open spaces for us to enjoy especially when the weather is nice. On the whole people are being sensible and keeping to the Government?s social distance rules, and if everyone continues to do this, there?s no reason why we can?t all enjoy our wonderful parks over the lockdown period. For everybody?s safety, patrols will continue and people who are not abiding by physical distancing measures will be dispersed.

Please bear in mind this weekend that we are not yet seeing a reduction in the infection rate that could call for the current restrictions to be lifted. Find out what you need to do to help stop the spread of the virus, protect the NHS and save lives Government Guidance - Coronavirus outbreak FAQs: what you can and can?t do.

Coronavirus has brought many hardships to us all, but a positive outcome is that it has shown that we can repair our natural environment. It is great to see that air quality has improved significantly in Nottingham over the last month, mainly due to a reduction in cars on our roads. This in itself will save lives as pollution leads to many untimely deaths each year. It?s worth us all thinking about what element of lockdown life we might keep after the restrictions begin to be eased and lifted. Could we continue to use our cars less, walk and cycle more, think carefully about what we are buying to reduce waste, for example.

Today sees the start of the international City Nature Challenge, Nottingham is taking part this year and needs your help. The Challenge is about celebrating urban wildlife in all its forms from the birds in our garden to the bugs on our balconies and weeds and wildflowers that find homes in the most unexpected places in our city. To take part, you can download a free iNaturalist app and take photos of the plants, insects, animals, birds or fungi you spot from your windows or outside your house. Find out more here City Nature Challenge: Nottingham. By documenting your local nature and wildlife, you will be helping to improve the understanding of urban biodiversity globally.

It is a priority for Nottingham City Council to support local business over this uncertain time. I am really pleased to hear that as of the end of today over ?33million of business support grant has been processed for local businesses who have applied. We will start contacting those businesses who haven?t applied for their grant yet next week. Combined with business rate discounts for small businesses, we?ve now provided over ?97m of support to our local economy so far.

Around 70% of local businesses have applied for this financial support, which means that 30% of local business have not yet applied for the support that they are entitled to. If you are eligible, please don't miss out:

• Apply here if you haven't done so already
• Complete your application as accurately as possible
• Email the Business Rates team if you have any issues or queries

For more information on Business Rates and links to the latest Government advice and support, visit Nottingham City Council's dedicated business support webpage.

Enjoy the weekend and stay safe