Calls to strengthen toothless 'no-booze' policy on St Peter's Street in Derby

Yahoo

6 days ago

Leading Derby councillors are calling for St Peter's Street in the city centre to be designated an alcohol-free zone. A walkabout by Lib Dem group leader Councillor Ajit Atwal and Councillor Steve Hassall, Conservative group leader, on a recent Friday morning saw several people drinking on benches opposite St Peter's Church.
Additionally, a large number of delivery riders with bikes were occupying benches opposite McDonald's and there was a constant flow of bikes being ridden fast up and down the street. Initially, Cllr Atwal and Cllr Hassall were concerned that no one in authority was in St Peter's Street - no police, public protection officers or St Peter's Quarter rangers.
Cllr Hassall said: "There is nowhere for members of the public to sit because the seating is occupied by people such as drinkers and delivery drivers and there is no one around to move anyone on. The area should be designated an alcohol-free zone and maybe give people more reassurance that there is an intention to police the area.
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"People drinking in the street throughout the day is not a good look for visitors to the city and needs to be stopped. Having said that, St Peter's Street is nothing more than a thoroughfare. There is nothing for people to come here for - just a lot of vape and barber shops, together with places to eat. It's not a shopping area any more."
But a few minutes later, the pair were left scratching their heads when they spotted a sign high up on a lamppost outside Tesco Express which appeared to support the idea of an alcohol-free zone.
It was public space protection order (PSPO) put up by the city council but on closer inspection it appeared only to prevent people drinking alcohol in a public space if they are "causing a nuisance or annoyance". The wording of condition one on the sign is: "No person shall consume alcohol in a public place (excluding licensed premises) in a manner which causes a nuisance or annoyance to other person in the locality".
Condition three on the same sign says: "No person shall ingest, inhale, inject, smoke or otherwise use intoxicating substances in a public place, excluding alcohol, tobacco or prescription medicines. Intoxicating substances are substances with the capacity to stimulate or depress a person's central nervous system."
And condition six states that "no person shall use a skateboard, scooter, or bicycle in a public place in a manner which causes a nuisance or annoyance to other persons in the locality".
The three other conditions cover begging, defecating and urinating and loitering as an individual or as a group, in which case they can be asked to leave the area and not return for 24 hours.
Mt Atwal said: "So what constitutes a nuisance, who and how is this going to be enforced, and why does this protection order seem to raise more questions than it answers?
"We have people drinking alcohol from cans, men sitting around with face coverings on, bikes being driven fast up and down the street and people stopping the public to ask for money. We recently had a fatal stabbing at Lloyd's Bank and people are naturally worried about doing normal things like withdrawing money from cash machines in broad daylight.
"There should be an active law enforcement presence and it needs to be made clearer whether or not people are allowed to drink alcohol or not. It should be zero tolerance on this and also on drug taking and dealing on this street. Something needs doing about it all - of course it's causing a nuisance if people are drinking in the streets or lounging around on public seats, or riding bikes.
"But it needs someone to enforce this or at least clarify the rules and regulations so that they can take action - currently the PSPO has no power to stop these things happening unless there is an obvious problem or presumably someone complains if anyone is around."
Derbyshire Live asked the council about the sign and the lack of patrols in the street. Councillor Nadine Peatfield, leader of Derby City Council, and cabinet member for city centre, regeneration, strategy and policy, said: 'The previous Public Space Protection Order was introduced in January 2022 for a period of three years. A thorough process of evidence gathering, data analysis, and a public consultation is required for renewal.
'PSPOs can only be enforced by police and Public Protection Officers (PPOs). Our PPOs are on duty in the city centre daily but may sometimes be deployed to provide support elsewhere in the city.
'PSPOs are designed to be enforced only when there's an element of anti-social behaviour involved. When considering restrictions on street drinking, there needs to be a balance between tackling anti-social drinking and supporting our night-time economy and seasonal events, such as Christmas markets which would not be able to serve alcohol in a controlled setting under a blanket ban.'