Booze ban to continue in selected parts of Milton Keynes

A councillor has signed off a year-long continuation of the public space protection order (PSPO) that covers 13 areas including Campbell Park and Central Milton Keynes.

The three year-old PSPO had been due to lapse next Tuesday (October 20) but on Tuesday this week Cllr Lauren Townsend (Lab, Bletchley West) made a delegated decision to keep it going for a year.

Thames Valley Police and parish councils wanted the PSPO to continue, with the police warning Milton Keynes Council that a lapse “would lead to an increase in crime and anti-social behaviour and further increase demand on officers.”

The PSPO gives police and other authorised persons the power to confiscate alcohol, and/or issue a £100 fixed penalty notice when people are drinking alcohol and are causing or likely to cause anti-social behaviour .

Jane Forster, the council’s community safety officer said a full public consultation will be progressed to see if any additional areas could be added. Another decision to change the PSPO could be made in October 2021.

Cllr Townsend signed the official paperwork to extend the PSPO after telling the meeting that no members of the public, or councillors wanted to speak on the item.

“This is the quickest decision I have taken,” she said.

The current PSPO covers 13 areas involving 12 parish councils of the 47 in the city in Bradwell, Bletchley, Campbell Park, Central Milton Keynes, Kents Hill and Monkston Park, Newport Pagnell, Olney, Shenley Brook End and Tattenhoe, Stantonbury and Bradville, Stony Stratford, West Bletchley Wolverton and Greenleys, and Woughton.