Published on Wednesday 19 July 2023
The introduction of new rules to tackle anti-social behaviour along the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole coastal areas and open spaces are to be considered by BCP Council.
A Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) gives councils the power to tackle anti-social behaviour so public spaces can be enjoyed free from the persistent issues that local communities face.
Following a public consultation earlier this year, the council’s Cabinet will consider the findings and report, which recommends the approval and implementation of two PSPOs: Coastal PSPO and Open Spaces PSPO.
The recommended Coastal PSPO will include all beaches, cliff tops and pier approaches from Ham Common Peninsula to Highcliffe.
If approved, the Coastal PSPO would specifically ban the lighting of open fires, intimidating and aggressive behaviour, loud music, public urination and defecation, and the lighting of barbeques between the hours of 7am and 6pm.
The second PSPO for Open Spaces would ban the use of all barbeques, including disposables, at all times, across 20 designated open spaces in the BCP region and prohibit the lighting of fires or throwing or dropping of any items which are likely to pose a risk of fire.
Cllr Kieron Wilson, Portfolio Holder for Housing and Regulatory Services, said:
"One of our priorities is to make Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole a safe place to live, work and visit, and these PSPOs will give us another tool to work with in reducing anti-social behaviour.
"Residents and visitors continually raise concerns over the summer months around negative behaviour which impacts on the enjoyment of our beaches and open spaces – as well as being detrimental to the environment.
"Over 1,500 residents, business and visitors fed back into the consultation at the start of the year which has led to us recommending these new PSPOs.
"We want all our residents to feel safe while enjoying the beach and open spaces, and not be impacted by negative behaviours. And we also want our visitors to come back to our destination because they enjoyed their time with us and felt safe, so I’m looking forward to discussing this next week, for the benefit of our communities."
Cabinet will also debate on whether a feasibility study for a designated space for people to camp overnight in will be undertaken.
For more information, please view the full report here.