Street drinking order in Fenland town extended for further three years
An order aimed at tackling anti-social drinking in Wisbech has been extended for a further three years even though councillors acknowledge it is “pointless”.
Fenland District Council’s cabinet unanimously agreed to extend the Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO), which was initially introduced in 2017 and then extended for three years in 2020, at its meeting on Monday.
The PSPO restricts the consumption of alcohol in three hotspot locations – Tillery Field, St Peter’s Church Gardens and the memorial garden in The Crescent – and controls the consumption of alcohol across a wider area, including Wisbech town centre.
Under the order, it is an offence to possess any open containers of alcohol in the three hotspot areas. It is also an offence to drink alcohol in the town centre when asked to stop by an authorised officer and to refuse to surrender alcohol.
However, whilst councillors backed the extension they all had serious reservations about the order’s effectiveness as it is currently not being properly enforced.
Councillor Steve Tierney said he had championed the PSPO when it was first introduced but said that it has a proved “useless”.
“It doesn’t work because nobody is enforcing it,” he said.
The police are the only authority with the power to enforce but they are not doing so because of a lack of resources.
However, he said there was no choice but to approve renewing the order because it is what people expect.
A view agreed by his fellow cabinet members.
Councillor Jan French proposed a letter be sent to Cambridgeshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Darryl Preston to express the council’s “deep concern” regarding the lack of enforcement.
She said: “What’s the point of having these policies if they are not being enforced – it’s just the same with civil parking enforcement.”
However, Councillor Susan Wallwork the portfolio holder for community safety, said that whilst she agreed there were some issues, the PSPO is used particularly with the police’s Operation Luscombe, which aims to cut anti-social behaviour issues in the town.
But she also admitted it is not used to “full extent”.
Anyone caught breaching the PSPO, which would have expired on October 20, could be issued with a £75 Fixed Penalty Notice, reported for prosecution through the courts or potentially arrested.
