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11
Oct
Could drinking alcohol in the street be banned in Harrogate town centre?
North Yorkshire’s deputy mayor for policing has said she would be “happy to look at” a potential public space protection order for Harrogate town centre.
Cllr Chris Aldred, a Liberal Democrat who represents High Harrogate and Kingsley on North Yorkshire Council, raised the matter at a North Yorkshire police, fire and crime panel meeting in York yesterday.
Public space protection orders prohibit certain behaviours in a defined area, such as street drinking and anti-social behaviour.
Cllr Aldred told the panel that Harrogate has a “big problem” with drinking in public spaces and that a move to implement such an order would be supported in the town.
The Stray Ferret reported extensively on the issues facing the Harrogate town centre in our Trading Hell series. We found shop workers routinely facing threats, rampant shoplifting and anti-social behaviour faced by businesses.
We also reported on the call for a public space protection order in the town, which is supported by Matthew Chapman, manager at Harrogate BID.
Cllr Aldred told the panel yesterday that an order like the one recently extended in Scarborough, which prohibits street drinking, should be implemented in Harrogate.
He said:
There has been a really big problem with drinking in public places. It’s coming back to me as a councillor from visitors and it’s coming back to my colleagues as well.
We have been told that Scarborough is different and that we tackle things differently in different areas. But this is exactly what Harrogate needs and there would be a lot of support for it if we could introduce it.
Labour's Ms Coles said any orders imposed across North Yorkshire had to be evidence-led.
However, she added that she would be happy to look at a proposal for Harrogate if it received the support from the town.
She said:
If what you are saying, and I have no reason to doubt it, is that Harrogate really wants this in the centre of Harrogate I’m very happy to look at it.
Anti-social behaviour is a real blight on our communities. It makes peoples’ lives a misery and it causes absolute mayhem for businesses.
Ms Coles added that any suggestions over a PSPO and anti-social behaviour problems in Harrogate town centre should be "fed into" the mayor's police and crime plan, which is currently out for consultation.
Harrogate's history with PSPOs
Harrogate is no stranger to implementing public space protection orders.
In August 2016, the former borough council introduced a PSPO and extended it a year later for another three years. It was tailored to clamp down on street drinking inside the railway and bus stations, Victoria Shopping Centre, and the Victoria and Jubilee multi-storey car-parks.
Enforcement officers had the power to ask people to stop drinking in a public place and ‘surrender’ their alcohol. Refusal to hand it over could result in a fixed penalty notice of up to £100.
Victoria car park.
But that order expired in 2020 and the pandemic lockdown meant there was no need to renew it, so there hasn’t been one in place for the past four years.
However, a reintroduction of such an order is supported by Matthew Chapman, manager at Harrogate BID.
During our Trading Hell series of articles, our survey found that 92% of town-centre traders support the introduction of a PSPO.
Mr Chapman told the Stray Ferret previously that such an order would help police tackle anti-social behaviour.
He said:
At the moment, the police are on the street and know there’s a problem, but they don’t have the powers to be able to do anything about it. A PSPO would give them the tools to be able to do that.
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