Thanet council plans to introduce a three-year Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) on Athelstan and Ethelbert Roads in Cliftonville to tackle littering, flytipping and antisocial behaviour.
The PSPO is part of a wider Thanet Multi-agency Task Force project to help to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour (ASB) and improve the appearance of the two roads.
The proposed PSPO will mean:
- Residents must put their household rubbish in the correct bin.
- Residents must put out their bins on the correct collection day.
- Residents must not leave bins out on the street apart from on collection day. This means putting out bins between 6pm on the day before collection is due, and taking them back onto their property no later than 8pm on collection day.
- Residents must not dump or leave waste or litter on driveways, in gardens or other outdoor spaces.
- Residents must make sure that garden walls and fences are safe and in good condition.
- Residents must not make noise at any time that is likely to disturb their neighbours.
Members of the public will not be able to use the alleyway between Athelstan Road and Ethelbert Road as the council will install lockable gates at each end. Residents, guests, emergency services and certain other authorised people will still be able to use the alleyway.
If the order is agreed, the new rules will apply to anyone in Athelstan and Ethelbert Roads. Enforcement officers will have the authority to enforce the new rules through Fixed Penalty Notices. The order will not replace any other laws or regulations that are already in place.
As part of the process to introduce the PSPO, Thanet council is holding a public consultation before it is presented to councillors for approval.
Thanet council says:
- 7% of all flytipping within the district is contained within Athelstan and Ethelbert Roads, including the alleyway between the two roads.
- 32% of all Fixed Penalty Notices issued in Thanet are issued at this location.
- Over the last 12 months, 64% of complaints on Athelstan and Ethelbert Roads have been in relation to waste and fly-tipping.
The consultation opened today (November 21) and will run until 5pm on Friday 9 December.
Once the consultation has closed, Thanet council will review the responses and if people are mostly in support of the proposals the plans will be put to councillors to make a final decision.
If the PSPO is approved signs will be installed in Athelstan and Ethelbert Roads to explain the new rules.
PSPOs
A public spaces protection order is an order made by the Local Authority if it is satisfied on reasonable grounds that two conditions are met. These are:
That activities being carried out within a public place have had detrimental effect on the quality of life of those in the locality or it is likely they will.
That the effect, or likely effect, of these activities is, or is likely to be, of a persistent or continuing nature, such as to make the activities unreasonable.
The orders identify public places and prohibit specific things from being done in that area or require specific things to be done in that area for a maximum of 3 years.
Breach of the order would constitute a criminal offence.
