Residents and businesses are being asked for their views on changes to rules that can help stop people causing anti social behaviour in areas of Stafford Borough.
Restrictions on, for example, where people can drink alcohol or the number of dogs a person can walk at any one time, will come into force with new national legislation in October. The new Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPO) will replace orders which govern alcohol restriction zones and Dog control orders – which were both part of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2014.
The PSPOs will impose conditions on the use of an area, and are intended to deal with particular problems in a certain area which are proving detrimental to the quality of life of local people.
Stafford Borough Council is proposing to implement a PSPO for both Stafford and Stone Town centres to restrict people drinking alcohol on the streets and requirements for people to control their dogs in other locations across the area.
Councillor Jeremy Pert, Cabinet Member for Communities, said: “This is a tool which allow us to work, with the Police, with communities to protect and enhance community life by removing the incidence of nuisance or anti-social behaviour. These powers allow us to address anti-social incidents – particularly when there are repeat offenders involved. It is not designed to be the first remedy but certainly one that we jointly need to have to support the communities that we live and work in.”
The draft policy is now available for public consultation for 6 weeks. People can give their comments on the draft policy until Thursday 27 July. The document can be found at www.staffordbc.gov.uk/surveys and a copy is also available to view at the Civic Centre, Riverside Stafford.
Or you can give feedback www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/publicspaceprotectionorders
Any comments can be emailed to policyandpartnership@staffordbc.gov.uk or posted to Policy and Partnerships, Stafford Borough Council, Civic Centre, Riverside, Stafford ST16 3AQ
