The start of spring has brought hope to many and with it, the possibility of a brighter future out of lockdown. Little could emphasise this more than the return of the much-loved Brighton Festival.

This week I welcomed the launch of the fantastic online and socially distanced programme alongside the guest director, poet Lemn Sissay. With the theme of “care”, the festival reminds us of the enduring power of culture to bring us together – something valued more than ever as we reflect on a year spent in the grip of the Covid-19 pandemic.

While events are of course cause for cautious optimism, the pandemic is still with us. I’m clear that the next few weeks are key. There are still challenges for our city and for our events, tourism and business sectors. Hundreds flocked to our beautiful seafront this week on the warmest March day for 53 years.

And the easing of restrictions combined with sunnier weather sees our coastal city, the closest to the capital, under immense pressure.

Although our preparations for the Easter weekend have been under way for some time, good weather continues to pose a challenge even in usually quiet periods. So we are fast-tracking action. On Monday we agreed our plan to manage the city safely through the next weeks and months. This includes the rollout of more 1,100-litre bins, additional crews, more collections of the waste left by bins. Another 15 staff will work over the Easter weekend, enforcement officers will be out speaking to the public and we’re improving litter signage and awareness campaigns. At the same time, we are repeating our calls for support. City council crews are working hard, but we need everyone to continue to take their rubbish to the nearest bin and when it’s full, take the rubbish home.

Many people have also raised concerns about the use of public toilets, especially as hospitality venues selling food and drink won’t reopen until just over a week’s time, April 12.

In the meanwhile, we’ve brought forward the council’s summer opening times for public toilets and we’re allocating an extra £50,000 to place more temporary toilets at key locations around the city, especially on the seafront. As I raised this week when asked about a staycation boom, we know many of our local services will be under additional strain this summer.

We are providing training so our traders can get back on their feet and supporting businesses to help care for our precious marine environment while they reduce waste. Alongside many organisations which share our concern about the impact of litter, we are collaborating with the Leave No Trace campaign and Surfers Against Sewage on an action plan for the seafront.

We’re consulting seafront traders on an accreditation scheme which champions efforts to prevent waste at source. We are contacting local businesses in the coming days to gather insight and intelligence on what action we can take together for a cleaner seafront in the longer term.

The need for local action is sadly even more desperate with the delays to the Conservative government’s Environment Bill. This law promised the biggest companies would be held responsible for the full cost of managing waste and excessive packaging, rather than local councils. The 2017 Government Litter Strategy shows nowhere near good enough progress with only four out of the 36 “actions” proposed by government completed, with the rest delayed or deferred. Important plans for a “world-class national anti-littering campaign” and an effective strategy for disposing of takeaway rubbish are languishing. We’ll continue to work on the ground for better results locally, but we repeat our call for stronger national action to help address litter. This is especially the case with the surge in pandemic waste dropped on our streets, beach and seafront such as disposable masks.

Welcoming people back to our city goes hand in hand with helping prevent the spread of Covid-19. On top of helping manage our green spaces and seafront, we want to ensure businesses, residents and visitors can enjoy the city safely. We’re not out of the pandemic, but we will only get there if we continue to follow the guidance, wash our hands, wear a mask, make space and get tested and isolate if we show symptoms. So ahead of the bank holiday, I urge everyone not to throw away the many months of hard sacrifice. People in Brighton and Hove have shown magnificent efforts to prevent the spread of Covid-19 so all of us stay safe. Let’s not stop now. With Covid-19 still with us, to keep our city thriving, we need to take action to care not only about our precious environment but also about each other.