Decisions Made

Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPO) are intended to deal with a particular nuisance or problem in a particular area that is detrimental to the local community’s life. PSPO’s impose conditions on the use of that area which apply to everyone. They are designed to ensure public spaces can be enjoyed and kept safe from antisocial behaviour.
The current alcohol PSPO expires on 19th October.

This has been in place since October 2017 having transitioned from the 2006 Designated Public Places Order (Consumption of Intoxicating Liquor) under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. It is proposed to continue a PSPO to tackle alcohol related nuisance and anti-social behaviour once the current PSPO has expired. The PSPO will prohibit the consumption of alcohol where is it associated with nuisance or anti-social behaviour or it is believed it will lead to nuisance or anti-social behaviour.

The PSPO will give the police and now authorised council officers (Community Wardens) the power to request an individual to stop drinking alcohol and to hand over any open or sealed container believed to contain alcohol. Failure to comply with these requirements will be an offence.

The PSPO will provide the police and council with another tool to reduce the impact of alcohol related nuisance and anti-social behaviour across Crawley particularly in relation to the on-going work to address the impact of street community drinking in the town centre, Memorial Gardens and beyond.

Consultation will be undertaken by the Head of Community Services in line with Section 5a of the Generic Delegation Scheme.

A four week consultation will be undertaken to see whether there is public and stakeholder support for continuing to have such a PSPO for Crawley.

The timeframe for the process and decision making is as follows;
• Consultation with key stakeholders and the public - 13th July until 9th August
• Cabinet briefing – 9th September
• Overview & Scrutiny Commission – 28th September
• Cabinet – 30th September
• Full Council – 21st October

A key legal requirement of the Local Plan Review is that it must be prepared in accordance with an up-to-date adopted Statement of Community Involvement (SCI). The current SCI was adopted by Head of Service Significant Officer Decision on 29 October 2019. It is published to the website and can be viewed from this link:
https://crawley.gov.uk/planning/planning-policy/engagement-and-monitoring/statement-community-involvement
However, this document requires some factual update and minor amendments in order to address the conflicts of the expectations for public consultation during the current restrictions in place due to COVID-19. In particular, in relation to events being held and the publication and deposit of documents in the council offices and other appropriate public buildings (historically considered to be Crawley Library). The amendments to the SCI follow current government advice (Statements of Community Involvement ).
It should be noted that the current minimum requirements for public consultation in plan-making are established through the Planning Regulations (Town and Country (Local Development) (England) Regulations 2012: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/767/contents/made. Until and unless these are amended it continues to be necessary for the council to make documents publicly available to inspect by members of the public at the council offices and other appropriate places.
Therefore, the amendment to the SCI confirms the council will, at least, meet the requirements of the Regulations, including as they may be amended or revised (either temporarily or permanently).