Issue - meetings

To consider a report of the Portfolio Holder for Customer and Community Services.

Decision

That the Anti-social Behaviour related Public Spaces Protection Orders for the following parts of the Dorset Council area, be approved:

Bridport, Dorchester, Lyme Regis, Portland, West Bay, Weymouth, Dorset Beaches and Dorset Open Land.

Reason for the decision

To comply with legislative requirements for the making of Public Spaces Protection Orders.

To ensure openness and transparency in the Council’s decision making by taking appropriate account of the results of the public consultation.

To ensure that those persons affected by anti-social behaviour are afforded the protection provided by such Orders.

The Portfolio Holder for Customer and Community Services set out the recommendation relating to Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPO) for Dorset.

Members were advised that officers had reviewed the existing Orders, in consultation with statutory consultees and the revised draft Orders had been prepared.

The Portfolio Holder also confirmed that Place and Resources Overview Committee had considered the report and its recommendations at its meeting on 7 March 2022 and a number of proposed changes had been taken into account.

In response to a question relating to the use of electric scooters on Weymouth’s Esplanade and that they raised safety concerns, the Service Manager for Licensing and Community Safety confirmed that this matter had also been raised by residents as part of this consultation.  He advised that officers were looking at the cycling provisions on the Esplanade and was in discussions with colleagues in Highways to consider how this concern could be addressed.

In respect of a question regarding enforcement, the Portfolio Holder confirmed that a proper training programme was in place for enforcement.  She further advised that a post-scrutiny review of PSPO’s would be taking place in the future and any outstanding issues could be addressed as part of that review. 

It was proposed by Cllr L Miller seconded by Cllr R Bryan

Decision

That the Anti-social Behaviour related Public Spaces Protection Orders for the following parts of the Dorset Council area, be approved:

Bridport, Dorchester, Lyme Regis, Portland, West Bay, Weymouth, Dorset Beaches and Dorset Open Land.

Reason for the decision

To comply with legislative requirements for the making of Public Spaces Protection Orders.

To ensure openness and transparency in the Council’s decision making by taking appropriate account of the results of the public consultation.

To ensure that those persons affected by anti-social behaviour were afforded the protection provided by such Orders.

To consider a report of the Service Manager, Licensing and Community Safety.

The committee received and considered a report of the Service Manager Licensing and Community Safety which set out the results of the consultation for the proposed Anti-social Behaviour related Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) for parts of the Dorset Council area.  The committee was invited to comment on the draft Orders and recommend them to Cabinet for approval if they were satisfied that the relevant criteria had been met for each order.

The Service Manager Licensing and Community Safety provided an introduction to the draft orders and a summary of the changes that had been made following the period of consultation.  In addition, he noted that requests for additional areas to be covered by a PSPO would be considered and would be subject to future consultation if appropriate.  Ward members would be included in this process.

The Service Manager Licensing and Community Safety provided an overview of the issues in respect of each PSPO.  The committee considered each PSPO in turn and discussion and recommendations were made as follows:

The Bridport Anti-social Behaviour Related Public Spaces Protection Order 2022

Recommendation to Cabinet

That the Bridport Anti-social Behaviour Related Public Spaces Protection Order be approved.

The Dorchester Anti-social Behaviour Related Public Spaces Protection Order 2022

Recommendation to Cabinet

That the Dorchester Anti-social Behaviour Related Public Spaces Protection Order be approved.

The Lyme Regis Anti-social Behaviour Related Public Spaces Protection Order 2022

Recommendation to Cabinet

That the Lyme Regis Anti-social Behaviour Related Public Spaces Protection Order be approved.

The Portland Anti-social Behaviour Related Public Spaces Protection Order 2022

Recommendation to Cabinet

That the Portland Anti-social Behaviour Related Public Spaces Protection Order be approved.

The West Bay Anti-social Behaviour Related Public Spaces Protection Order 2022

Recommendation to Cabinet

That the West Bay Anti-social Behaviour Related Public Spaces Protection Order be approved.

The Weymouth Anti-social Behaviour Related Public Spaces Protection Order 2022

·            The approach to dealing with aggressive begging was questioned and there were different views as to how this should be dealt with

·            The difference between begging and aggressive begging was recognised

·            The Service Manager Licensing and Community Safety set out the Council’s evidence-based approach and confirmed that the PSPO provisions were useful to have if other preferred approaches for dealing with a situation had not brought about a resolution

·            Issues around cycling on The Esplanade were discussed, including the reasons that the provisions had been included and consideration to the different users of The Esplanade

·            R Tarr declared an interest as a Cycle England Right to Ride representative, who was consulted by the Council on relevant matters, and also noted that he was a writer of walking guidebooks.  Following advice from the Monitoring Officer he confirmed that he did not need to declare an interest in respect of royalties received for his guidebooks as this was not relevant to the cycling issues under discussion

·            Reference was made to relevant work on the Local Transport Plan

·            M Roe indicated that she did not agree with the aggressive begging element of the order and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 65