Town Centre PSPO consultation
Bedford Borough Council is consulting on a new Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) to tackle street drinking and related anti-social behaviour Bedford town centre. This PSPO would give the Police and authorised officers powers to enforce against people breaking it.
The Bedford Community Safety Partnership undertook a wide reaching public consultation in 2019 to understand the key areas of concern within the Borough and to inform our strategic priorities for 2020 to 2023.
This work identified high levels of concern around levels of Alcohol Related Anti-Social Behaviour within the town centre.
Bedford Borough Council, with the support of other local partners, looks to develop a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) to address these issues.
PSPOs are intended to deal with a particular anti-social behaviour problem, in a defined area, that is detrimental to the local community’s quality of life.
Bedford Town Centre proposal
In response, the Council along with other partners, is proposing a PSPO to cover the town centre from the Embankment in the south, St Cuthbert’s Street in the east, to De Parys Avenue and Roff Avenue in the north, and Ashburnham Road in the west.
This PSPO will prohibit people consuming alcohol or having an open container of alcohol in the defined area, to prevent anti-social behaviour.
If approved, the PSPO will be enforced in a graduated way from asking the person to surrender the alcohol, issuing a Community Protection Notice, criminal order behaviour, up to issuing a fixed penalty notice.
The Council will also be working to offer support for people where appropriate, such as drug and alcohol support services or referral to the Housing Needs Team.
Have your say
You can read the draft PSPO and complete the online questionnaire by clicking on the links below:
What happens next
Consultation will run from 1 October 2020. All comments must reach the Council by 9am on the 2 November 2020. The document will be taken to The Executive Committee on the 25 November 2020
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