Mansfield District Council’s Public Spaces Protection Order has been renewed for three more years.
The renewed PSPO was approved in a delegated decision on Monday 8 September by the joint Portfolio Holders for Wellbeing, Health and Safer Communities, Cllrs Angie Jackson and Caroline Ellis.
Cllr Jackson said after the meeting: “We know antisocial behaviour and community safety are major public concerns which we take very seriously. Everyone should be able to go about their everyday lives without harassment or fear.
“The PSPO is just one of a range of measures and strategies to improve the quality of life for the people of this district and it performs a useful function in acting as a deterrent to antisocial behaviour as well as providing sanctions when people contravene its guidance and cause a nuisance or threat to others.”
Mansfield order (PSPO), has been renewed following a public consultation earlier in the year to check it aligns with public expectations.
The consultation raised various concerns, particularly regarding how it tackled rough sleepers and people living in tents.
One suggestion from the public was to have an area of the district designated for tents rather than a ban on them in public spaces.
After reviewing the legal position, it was felt that better legislation existed to address issues relating to tents, so a ban on erecting them in public places was removed from the Mansfield PSPO.
Having designated tent areas raises legal and safeguarding issues. The council considered it was better to focus on long-term solutions to homelessness as set out in its Homelessness Prevention Strategy. In future, it will take a balanced approach that combines fair enforcement with signposting to support services, with the aim of improving the situation for vulnerable individuals.
Another public concern raised in the consultation was the unsafe use of e-scooter and motorbikes in public spaces.
The renewed PSPO is not being extended to include powered machines in the town centre because following consultation with the police, it was felt that powers to deal with antisocial uses of e-scooters and motorbikes already exist and including them in the PSPO would duplicate these powers unnecessarily.
However, concerns about e-scooters and motorbikes will continue to be shared with police as they arise.
The renewed Mansfield PSPO contains ten offences and directives with sanctions such as Fixed Penalty Notices with fines of £100.
It includes bans on drinking alcohol in council parks and other public spaces including the Market Place.
It also excludes dogs from children’s play areas and enables council officers to order owners to put their pet on a lead.
People riding bicycles through the town centre at certain times can be ordered to dismount with sanctions for failing to do so.
PSPOs were introduced by the government as part of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime & Policing Act 2014 and can be used by councils to target a range of issues in a defined public area.
More information about the Order can be found on the council website (link opens in new window).
The Mansfield PSPO offences and orders in full
1. Failing to surrender any alcohol in a designated ‘no drinking’ area when asked to do so by an authorised officer.
2. Continuing to consume alcohol in a designated ‘no drinking’ area when asked not to consume alcohol by an authorised officer.
3. Urinating or defecating.
4. Failing to remove dog faeces.
5. Failing to abide by an exclusion of dogs from designated areas including children’s play areas.
6. Failing to comply with an order by an authorised officer to put and keep a dog on a lead to prevent nuisance or behaviour likely to cause or disturbance.
7. Dispersal: Persons can be dispersed from a designated area by an authorised officer if that officer has reason to believe that those persons are causing, or are likely to cause nuisance, alarm, harassment or distress to any other person
8. Dispersal: Failing to leave the designated area when asked to do so by an authorised officer
9. Prohibition of driving mechanically propelled vehicles in the Desert Area of Eakring Road: A person commits an offence if at any time without reasonable excuse he drives or is an occupant in or on a mechanically propelled vehicle, on land to which the PSPO applies.
10. Restrict Access-Manor Estate Mansfield Woodhouse, Clerksons Alley and Alfred Court Town Centre.