A BAN on street drinking in the centre of Fishponds is being reintroduced.
The public space protection order (PSPO) lapsed two years ago, leading to a resurgence in antisocial behaviour.
Bristol city councillors unanimously agreed to bring back the PSPO in a zone covering Fishponds Park, Straits Parade and several streets north and south of Fishponds Road, including the area around the Morrisons and Lidl supermarkets.
The council’s public health and communities committee voted in favour of the ‘no-drinking zone’ after hearing it had support from 95% of people in the area and admitting the local authority had “dropped the ball” on the issue by letting it expire two years ago.
It will be the only one in the city specifically tackling street drinking.
A report to the committee meeting on October 10 said the order will come into force on October 21 unless it is called in for further review, will last three years and give police officers, police community support officers (PCSOs) and authorised council officers the power to require anyone seen drinking alcohol in public to stop, and to confiscate opened cans and bottles.
Failure to comply would be an offence.
Offences up by 65%
The report said: “There is clear evidence that antisocial behaviour incidents and offences have increased in a specific area of Fishponds following the expiration of the previous PSPO in 2023.
“The PSPO will provide an effective, added tool for officers in the disruption of alcohol-related antisocial behaviour and would also assist in the efforts to support the individuals who were partaking in the antisocial behaviour through clearer boundaries.
“The proposed PSPO relates to an area of Fishponds that is a shopping and public transport hub.
“The sense of powerlessness the police and public services feel is felt in turn by local people, feeding a sense of hopelessness and inequality.
“The instatement of a new PSPO is considered a necessary and proportionate response to these challenges.
“It will provide police and enforcement officers with enhanced powers to intervene early and effectively, helping to prevent escalation into more serious criminal activity or public disorder.”
The report said offences rose by almost two-thirds, from 111 in the six months before the order expired in October 2023 to 183 in the half year from October 2024 to March this year.
The area marked in yellow is covered by the new PSPO
Avon & Somerset police neighbourhood inspector Luke Keenan said Fishponds had seen a rise in street drinking, public intoxication, antisocial behaviour and theft.
He said: “Fishponds is patrolled by police officers and PCSOs who often struggle to positively intervene at the early stages prior to the antisocial behaviour occurring, as they are unable to remove alcohol from people without a PSPO in place.
“Police are using antisocial behaviour powers to target the most problematic individuals. However, this process takes time and does not take into account the fluidity of the community.
“There are several hostels in the Fishponds area and as such the residents are transient.”
‘Intimidating atmosphere’
Frome Vale ward Labour councillors Louis Martin and Al Al-Maghrabi both campaigned to get the order reintroduced after receiving many reports from residents about drinking, drug-taking and urinating in public.
Cllr Martin told the meeting that this had created an “intimidating atmosphere”, especially around Fishponds Park, Guinea Lane and North Devon Road.
Resident Rachel Condon said: “There is a toxic network of antisocial street behaviour from certain residents.
“Drug-dealing, drug consumption, street drinking, littering, and screaming obscenities/abuse are now normalised daily occurrences.
“Since the lapse of the PSPO order, there has been a visible decline in police protection of local residents from a network of antisocial behaviour.
“My family and I feel vulnerable walking through our local streets each day.”
‘The ball had been dropped’
Committee member Ed Fraser (Green, Eastville) said: “Previously the ball had been dropped on this one, and as a result of there being no measure in place, clearly antisocial behaviour has risen in the immediate area around the park and the high street.
“There have been a minority of comments expressing concerns around civil liberties and the way it will be applied.
“The target here isn’t people who may be outside one of the pubs in that stretch and step slightly over the pavement with a pint, the target is not a group of UWE students having the last sip of their tinnies before getting on the 49 bus into town for a night out, the target will be those people who engage in drunk and disorderly behaviour, and about getting them help and support and having the ability to confiscate alcohol.”
By Adam Postans, Local Democracy Reporting Service
Top picture: A sign from the previous street drinking ban, which lapsed two years ago, is still up in Guinea Lane, which is also covered by the new order