Have your say on new Peterborough order to reduce anti-social behaviour in city neighbourhoods

Peterborough City Council is carrying out a public consultation starting from today (11 December 2020) to 22 January 2020, giving members of the public a chance to comment on the proposals, which are aimed at tackling issues such as anti-social behaviour, street drinking and littering. The council is going beyond the usual 28 day period of consultation to take account for the Christmas period and Covid restrictions.

The original PSPO for the areas was introduced in June 2017 featuring four key conditions. If someone breached a condition within the PSPO they could be handed a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) of up to £100 by enforcement officers.

The previous PSPO expired in August 2020, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic it wasn’t possible to carry out a full consultation at the time. The council is now seeking to introduce a new PSPO for the next three years with additional and amended conditions, relating to the following key issues:

a new addition will make it an offence for anyone within Stanley Recreation Ground, Stanley Road, Crawthorne Road, Brook Street car park, part of Broadway, Fitzwilliam Street, part of Church Walk and part of Park Road to consume alcohol or be in possession of an open alcoholic drink, other than on licensed premises or where a Temporary Event Notice or pavement licence is in operation.

It is also proposed to amend the existing condition that individuals ordered to disperse from the area for consumption of alcohol are not allowed to return within six hours, unless for lawful reasons.

The order will make it an offence for individuals to cause harassment, alarm or distress by committing anti-social behaviour. Examples include use of offensive or abusive language and acting in an aggressive manner. It is also proposed that the existing condition which enables authorised officers to disperse individuals causing harassment, alarm and distress is also amended to prevent those dispersed from returning to the immediate area within six hours - unless for lawful reasons.

A new addition will make it an offence for adults to be present in a designated children's playground area unless they are accompanying a child of 14 or under, or unless the person using the play equipment/park requires the attention of a recognised carer or they are present in an official capacity or with lawful excuse.

All other conditions included within the original PSPO are recommended to remain unchanged. The council would like to stress that our policy is not to issue FPNs to homeless individuals for PSPO breaches, instead offering them engagement and support.

Once implemented, PSPOs are enforced by authorised council officers and the Police.

Councillor Irene Walsh, cabinet member for communities, said: “We are fully committed to working with partners to ensure our communities are clean, safe and welcoming. This PSPO has helped us target particular issues that are concerning local residents, with FPNs acting as a strong deterrent to offenders.

“However, we never get complacent and we’ve continued to engage with residents. Our research suggests there is evidence to support setting up a new PSPO, with more thorough conditions to help us continue to tackle key issues. We would urge everyone to have your say in this consultation, it will only take a few minutes of your time, but your feedback will be vital in helping us to move this scheme forward.”

Anyone who wants to take part in the consultation should log onto 'consultations' page at www.peterborough.gov.uk or request a paper copy of the consultation from the Town Hall in Bridge Street.