I wonder if it would be useful it things looked a bit less as if they were being done on the fly?
Maybe we could have some pre-determined scheme for bringing in local restrictions which could be discussed in advance.
Then if they announced that a certain area was - say - moving to level 2 restrictions people would already know the impact.
Maybe we could even have some triggers for this to happen? (Though that can then only be reactive and not taking into account upcoming events such as Eid or Christmas).
This is the way that most sensible countries have done things. Of course, that's far too sensible for us.
Several key things are missing in the coronavirus restrictions response of the government. Firstly, there is no national map or postcode checker you can use to see what the current restrictions are in a given place. Such a tool should easily summarise restrictions in terms of a yellow/red/green who you can meet, where, and what's open.
Furthermore there needs to be a defined level of restrictions like you state, on a scale of say 1 to 5, the level of which is subject to review each week based on the number of cases. Such restrictions should apply ward by ward if at all possible, otherwise by parliamentary constituency or similar grouping of a smaller number of people than the massive areas like Greater Manchester.
As others have said, restricting people from Appley Bridge meeting up with their parents is ludicrous and is the kind of thing that breeds resentment and non-compliance, when the problem is in certain areas like Rochdale.