Anti-social drinking orders set to be canned in three areas of Cambridge

Orders that prohibit street drinking in three areas of Cambridge could be ditched because the city council believes they are no longer needed.

Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) were created to deal with problems affecting the quality of life in local communities by banning certain activities, such as the drinking of alcohol in public.

Failing to comply with such an order is a criminal offence and can lead to a £75 fine.

Cambridge City Council introduced a PSPO in 2015 following a public consultation to stop people drinking alcohol or having an open container of alcohol in Mill Road Cemetery, Petersfield Green and the front garden of Ditchburn Place. It does not cover the access steps to Petersfield Mansions.

Since then, the PSPO has been renewed three times, but it is due to end on May 31, 2023.

The council said: “In 2022 there were only two reports to the council about anti-social drinking in the areas covered by the PSPO. Reports to the police of antisocial drinking in the locations covered by the PSPOs have also reduced in the last three years.

“We think that the drinking of alcohol, in these areas, can be managed without the PSPO and so are looking to end it.

“We plan to manage the drinking of alcohol on these spaces by patrolling areas where people are drinking, engaging and educating people about the impact of anti-social drinking. Where needed, we will work with the police to issue Criminal Behaviour Orders to people whose behaviours negatively impact the local community.”

The council, which ran a two-week only survey about the issue, is due to make a decision at the strategy and resources scrutiny committee on March 27.

Renewing the order would require “significant evidence” that anti-social drinking will get worse without the PSPO, while varying the order would also require proof of the need to alter the behaviours or spaces targeted. PSPOs were introduced under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.

Council figures show there have been 29 reports of anti-social drinking in the three areas since 2019, 22 of which were in Petersfield Green. But in 2022 there was just one incident in Petersfield Green and one in Mill Road Cemetery, with none in Ditchburn Place.

The cemetery has been subject to two recent attacks by vandals, knocking over and smashing gravestones, but this is not known to be connected to drinking.