Designated alcohol-free zones to tackle anti-social street drinking in the borough are very much “on the agenda” according to the leader of Telford & Wrekin.
Telford MP David Wright and MP for The Wrekin Mark Pritchard have called on the council to take action to stop the blight of street drinking in the borough’s district centres.
Council Leader, Andrew Eade, has this week pledged to take a “robust approach” in dealing with both enforcement and tackling the root causes of alcohol related anti-social behaviour.
The leader said the implementation of Designated Public Place Orders (DPPO) are on the agenda for the council “for the first time ever.”
DPPOs are a tool that can be used by local authorities to deal with the problems of anti-social alcohol drinking in public places.
Once a DPPO is in place the Police can use their confiscation powers to enforce the restriction.
It is not an offence to consume alcohol within a designated area, but failure to comply with an officer’s requests to stop drinking and surrender alcohol without reasonable excuse is.
DPPOs are available in areas that have experienced alcohol-related anti-social behaviour problems.
They have been used across the country in areas ranging from a single street or park, to town centre or city-wide areas.
Councillor Eade said: “A number of meetings have been held with the Police to highlight the concerns that we have with regards to street drinking and its impact on particular locations.
“The application of a Designated Public Place Order and other legal powers will be considered in the event that other measures do not have the desired impact.
“The imposition of a DPPO is very much on the agenda of this Council for the first time ever and also our partners in the Police,” said Councillor Eade.
“If or when we apply for a DPPO we have to be absolutely sure that the application will be successful and that all other measures have been exhausted and, at the end of the day, we have to remember that although we would apply for a DPPO it is the Police that have to enforce it.”
Borough Councillor Vic Tonks wants to go a step further and use DPPO’s at the heart of the war on anti-social behaviour.
He said: “The strategy that has been formed between agencies does not have DPPO’s included in the heart of it but rather on the fringes, to be used as a last resort.
“Parish Council’s play an important part in the introduction of DPPO’s so I have, through the Telford & Wrekin Area Committee (WAC) asked for their opinion on the matter.”
Since October last year the council says it has delivered a number of initiatives to tackle street drinking and the issues associated with it.
This included investing £100,000 towards tackling alcohol related anti-social behaviour, recruitment of a night time economy officer, increased monitoring of sales from off licences through test purchasing and joint initiatives with the Police including operation Phoenix and Bandstand to tackle issues related to alcohol.
