Council wants Maltby booze ban

Rotherham councillors agreed on Monday to introduce a Designated Public Place Order (DPPO) in Maltby which will give police extra power to deal with street drinkers.

DPPOs give both police and police community support officers the power to confiscate alcohol – including unopened containers – from anyone deemed to be causing “nuisance, annoyance or disorder.”

Those who fail to comply could be given a penalty notice for £50 or arrested and fined up to £500.

The order would cover selected urban areas, parks, waterways and other identified public spaces.

In his report to Monday’s meeting of the cabinet member for neighbourhoods, Steve Parry, Rotherham Council’s neighbourhood crime and justice manager, said in order to include a place in DPPO order the authority must be satisfied that nuisance or annoyance to members of the public or disorder has been associated with alcohol consumption in that certain place.

He said: “There is no doubt that alcohol is a contributory factor in anti-social behaviour, criminal damage, nuisance and public place violent crime.”

“It also increases the fear of crime and further deterioration of public areas and acts as a catalyst for an increase in the incidents of alcohol and drug abuse and more serious crimes.”

According to the report residents who live in areas with DPPOs are “strongly in favour” of them because “they send out a clear message of the intent of the police, council and partners to tackle alcohol related crime and disorder.”

The council had originally wanted to introduce a borough-wide order but it was decided that such a move was not supported and instead a single multi-location order was proposed instead.

A DPPO is already in place in Rotherham Town Centre and the council wants to extend its boundaries.

Maltby town councillor Keith Stringer welcomed an introduction of a DPPO order in the town.

He said: “In my opinion, this order is the first step in making people aware that alcohol doesn’t solve problems and it never will.”

“Taking the alcohol from these people on the streets may deter any immediate problems and save people from becoming involved with police action.”

“But in my opinion, the answer to these problems is through creating more employment for people and creating the unavailability of cheap alcohol.”

“This is a nationwide problem that the present Government has to address but won’t be solved by redundancies and less jobs in the employment market.”

At Monday’s meeting Coun Rose McNeely, cabinet member for neighbourhoods, followed the recommendations and the report will now go before the licensing board for consideration on Wednesday 16th November.

If the board agree to introduce a DPPO then a statutory consultation would be required.

The consultation would involve South Yorkshire Police, licensees of any licensed premises in the area and the owners and occupiers of any land identified which may be affected.