Dear RCC members
Since the last newsletter, RBC, in conjunction with the Community Safety Partnership, have announced that they are planning to introduce Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs) into the town.
These are intended to tackle four separate categories of nuisance: begging, on street drinking, dog fouling, and anti-social behaviour by people using e-bikes and e-scooters.
It is this last category that has caused a great deal of concern amongst our cycling community. So much so that it is difficult to set out a balanced view that does not offend one party or another to the debate.
Thames Valley Police (TVP) are behind this move as they feel they need extra powers to address the anti-social behaviour of some users of e-bikes.
The PSPO would give them the ability to hand out fixed penalty notices rather than go through the long process of arrest and prosecution. I am told that if Councillors’ inboxes are to be believed, e-bikes are one of the things most complained about by residents.
The enforcement of this aspect of the PSPO would be down to TVP and there is obviously some concern about whether they have the resources to do the job. However, it would not be part of the remit of Council Officers, or of the Reading BID wardens who currently patrol the town centre.
The big problem as many cyclists see it is how anti-social behaviour will be defined and how much latitude the police will have in deciding what it is and what it is not.
Another real concern comes from the fact that some other Councils, e.g. Hull, have used PSPOs to enforce cycling bans in town centres and this has led to disproportionate fines for trivial infractions of the rules.
With regulations of this sort, there is always the possibility that they will in practice be used in situations for which they were never intended.
The Council is making it clear, through their Lead Councillor for Community Safety Karen Rowland, that putting any extra restrictions on cycling in the town is not and has never been their intention.
There is, at the time of writing, an ongoing consultation process which involves filling in a rather simple questionnaire, but Cllr. Rowland has been very open about talking to the RCC and listening to our concerns.
However, it is the vagueness of the wording of the PSPO as presented to the Council Committee, and especially some of the examples which are given online, which give cause for concern.
It is certainly very good that through the consultation process, these concerns are being heard, and the wording of the PSPO is in the process of being tightened up.
The PSPO was sent back for clarification by the committee and Council Officers and TVP will be working on this after the consultation has ended.
It remains to be seen what the final wording of the orders will be, but the position of the RCC is clear.
On the one hand we do not condone anti-social behaviour by any cyclist, no matter what style of bike they ride, but we will lobby very strongly to ensure that all current levels of cycle access are maintained and improved.
When the current consultation is completed in September, the revised PSPO will be brought back to committee, probably in December, for final approval.
We are pleased that the Council has reached out to us and has taken our concerns seriously, but we will be keeping in close touch with them and hopefully with TVP as well, before the final wording is agreed.
Joe Edwards
RCC Chairman (chair@readingcyclecampaign.org.uk)
N.B. Consultation on the proposed PSPO closes on 7 September: https://reading.govocal.com/en-GB/projects/public-spaces-protection-order – Editor.
