The inSwindon BID Street Team Ambassadors are out this week reminding visitors to the town centre about appropriate behaviour in the central shopping areas.
The Street Team Ambassadors have already been handing out leaflets and offering advice about what kind of behaviour they expect to see in the town centre under the Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO).
PSPOs were introduced as part of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 and are primarily aimed at changing and improving behaviour. Anyone caught breaching the order will be advised to stop their activity and, if they fail to do so, a fixed penalty notice may be issued. The fixed penalty is set at £100 and, if not paid, could result in court fines of up to £1,000.
Since the PSPO was introduced in the town centre by Swindon Borough Council more than two years ago, officers from the Council, Wiltshire Police and inSwindon have spoken to and offered advice to thousands of individuals who were contravening the order. As every individual approached stopped their activity following the advice, no fines have been issued.
The ‘warning and informing’ policy, covers the town centre, Regent Circus, the public thoroughfares into the town centre from Swindon railway station and the area around Spring Gardens.
inSwindon Chief Executive, Di Powell said:
“For some time now businesses, shoppers and visitors have experienced incidents of anti-social behaviour, which is having a detrimental effect on our town centre.
“It is a priority to make sure we have a safe and welcoming town centre, where everyone can relax and enjoy themselves.
“By working together to implement the PSPO, we can create a vibrant town centre where visitors value it as a destination of choice.”
Currently, the PSPO restrictions for the town centre are:
Dogs on leads: Dogs must be kept on leads of no longer than two metres at all times in this location.
Skateboarding: Everyone is prohibited from skateboarding, at any time
Cycling: Everyone is prohibited from cycling, at any time
Alcohol: Everyone is prohibited from consuming alcohol or having an open alcohol container in the town centre.
Begging: Everyone is prohibited from begging or asking members of the public for money in a manner which causes, or is likely to cause, nuisance or annoyance to any member of the public or business.
In January, the following numbers of PSPO activity were recorded and educational advice was given by the Street Team Ambassador on their daily patrols:
Dogs on Leads 1
Skateboarding 4
Cycling 20
Alcohol 21
Begging 31
inSwindon Chief Executive, Di Powell said:
“In response to this, we’ve taken the proactive measure to give out information to shoppers via our Street Team Ambassadors as a timely reminder of the rules.”
Cllr Cathy Martyn, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing and Public Safety, said: “The PSPO is a tool to encourage people to change their behaviours. I have been really encouraged by the success of the order so far because most people who have been approached for breaching the various conditions have been very apologetic as they did not know about the restrictions and changed their behaviour immediately.
“We want to create a safe and welcoming environment for visitors to the town centre and surrounding areas, so they come back and visit again.”
For more information about the PSPO please visit https://www.swindontowncentre.co.uk
