Proposed Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) The Town Centre, Wrexham and Bellevue Park Wrexham.

As a resident, visitor or business owner in the area it is likely that you will be aware of issues of anti-social behaviour which occur in these areas.

Examples of this behaviour include;

•Rough sleeping;

•Drug abuse; and intoxication from that

•Drinking alcohol and under the influence of such

North Wales Police, Wrexham County Borough Council and partner agencies have tried over the years to find a solution to this problem to alleviate the disturbance and detrimental effect on the quality of life of residents and also those who wish to use the park and/or visit the town centre.

In October 2014 the Anti-social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014 was introduced. As part of this legislation comes the introduction of the Public Spaces Protection Order. (PSPO) This enables Local Authorities to impose prohibitions or requirements to specified areas to enable law abiding citizens to enjoy public areas without being affected by Anti-Social behaviour.

The new PSPO, will introduce additional prohibitions and will enable Officers from North Wales Police and designated officers within Wrexham County Borough Council to deal more robustly with offenders at the time of occurrence. The intention is to provide a deterrent to those considering participating in the activities outlined above. Officers will have the power to request people to leave, issue on the spot fines or report people for summons.

Following the Wrexham Town PSPO consultation on Your Voice Wrexham and other face to face consultations it was clear that the public were very supportive of a PSPO for the town centre, and were also supportive of the following prohibitions: 

• Behaviour causing harassment, alarm, nuisance or distress
• Consumption of alcohol or possession of an open container of alcohol
• Loitering in a state of intoxication or through drug induced activity
• Eating, drinking, inhaling, injecting, smoking or otherwise using intoxicating substances
• Urinating or defecating
• Sleeping in Kings Street bus station or public toilets during the hours of darkness

As a result of the consultation, the boundaries of the map were extended to pick up other areas where there had been evidence of anti social behaviour.   A result was taken to our Executive Board for approval of the Wrexham Town PSPO and the PSPO was put in place for 1^st August 2016.

Since the PSPO has been in place over 50 PSPO tickets have been given by North Wales Police and Council Enforcement Officers.  Public awareness of the Wrexham Town PSPO and how to report anti-social behaviour has also been raised.  The PSPO has been implemented along with other initiatives so support the visible vulnerable into recovery services.  A further report is due to Executive Board in early 2017 to update the public on the Wrexham town PSPO.

Wrexham County Borough Council is proposing to continue Additional Licensing to cover all Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) in the County Borough.

This public consultation document explains the Council’s proposal, how the scheme would work and the continued benefits of operating such a scheme. Anyone completing this questionnaire should read the consultation document to familiarise themselves with the proposed scheme.

Arson has been a recurring problem in Wrexham for a number of years.  There is a significantly higher level of deliberate fires in the county compared to the rest of North Wales over the past 5 years.  43% of all arson in the North Wales area occurred in Wrexham; increasing to 47% in 2015.

Wrexham’s Public Services Board (PSB), Partnership Delivery Board 3 has been awarded £10,000 from the Police and Crime Commissioner to support the development of an action plan to reduce arson offences in Wrexham.

Partners are already working together to develop responses to address this issue, this one-off funding may be used to enhance the current provision.

An important part of this work will be to educate and raise awareness of the negative impacts of arson so that we can influence behaviour change, and reduce the number of incidents across Wrexham.

A public and stakeholder consultation on the draft Flood Risk Management Plan was undertaken for a 6 week period between 7 April and 12 May 2016. The consultation was made available publically through the yourvoicewrexham.co.uk website, with supporting press release and direct email correspondence to in excess of 100 Councillors, Community Councils and stakeholders. A total of 18 responses were received in relation to the consultation, with the majority of respondents considering the Flood Risk Management Plan did contain clear objectives for the future management of flood risk within the County Borough and highlighted the highest risks to the County Borough.

Minor amendments have been incorporated into the plan, including an additional action plan to review and provide clarity with regards to the use, availability and distribution of sandbags. A summary of the consultation questionnaire and responses received is contained within Appendix D (http://www.wrexham.gov.uk/assets/pdfs/flooding/flood_risk_management_plan.pdf) of the final flood risk management plan, this also considers responses to individual submissions.

To consult with members of Wrexham's Citizens' Panel, in order to inform key Council decisions, and service development.

Preferred Strategy Consultation

The Preferred Strategy is the first formal publication in the Local Development Plan (LDP) preparation process. It sets out the broad approach that the LDP intends to take in order to ensure that the County is developed in a sustainable manner. It provides the strategic framework for the more detailed policies, proposals and land use allocations which will subsequently be included in the Deposit LDP.

The Preferred Strategy Public Consultation represents an opportunity for everyone in the plan area and beyond to think about how the places people live, work, learn in and visit should develop over the plan period to 2028.

Background

From 1 April 2017, Wrexham Council would be able to charge a premium of up to 100% of the standard rate of Council Tax on long term empty homes and second homes. The Council is contemplating charging a premium of 50% in respect of both long term empty and second homes. The purpose of this consultation is to seek people’s views on these proposals, this consultation closes on 6 March 2016.

What is a Long Term Empty Home

• A long term empty home is defined as a dwelling which is both empty and substantially unfurnished for a continuous period of at least one year. In considering whether a dwelling has been empty for one year, the council disregards any period prior to 1 April 2016, also any occupation of less than 6 weeks is also disregarded.

What is a Second Home

• A second home is defined as a dwelling which is not an individual’s main home and is substantially furnished.

Why is the Council considering charging a premium on these type of properties.
The intention to charge a premium on these type of properties is to help the council bring long term empty homes back into use to provide safe, secure and affordable homes, which forms part of the Councils Local Housing Strategy.

If an owner of a long term empty property requires help in the form of financial support to bring the property back into use, the council may be able to help in the form of grants or loans and can provide information on this area if required.
Are there exceptions to avoid a premium being charged?

In a limited number of cases there are exceptions available which mean that a long term empty property or second home may not be subject to the premium for a specific period, some examples of where exceptions apply are listed below for guidance:

• Dwelling being marketed for sale or let – would be given an exception for a maximum of 1 year
• Annexe which forms part of a main dwelling
• Dwelling which is someone’s main residence if they were not residing in armed forces accommodation
• Occupied caravan pitches and boat moorings
• Seasonal homes where year-round occupation is prohibited
• Job related dwellings

There could be other factors also which the authority may decide not to levy the premium, these will be considered as part of the decision making process as to whether to charge a premium.

The Council has a plan that sets out what we want to achieve to make Wrexham a better place. Every year the Council refreshes this plan. We want the plan to be right, so we want to hear from local people.

The Council is facing ongoing budgets cuts and we are working hard to ensure the services we continue to provide whilst making savings are effective and efficient.  Your views will help us decide where we should focus our efforts and resources across the Council Plan.  The financial challenge means it is inevitable that the range and level of services we offer will reduce. What you tell us here will also help us identify where we can continue to save money in the years to come.

The survey received just under 1000 responses.  People also gave us their views on social media, at a consultation event, and through specific consultations with young people and people with protected characteristics. Thank you for taking the time to give us your views, the 'Key Findings' report below outlines the results of this consultation.

A really important part of any consultation is feeding back to the participants about what has happened since they gave their opinions and what effect their views have had.  This process of feedback is about being able to show where views expressed have directly impacted on proposals, and also explaining when there are times we could not do everything suggested by the public, and explaining why. The ‘You Said, We Did’ report below highlights how the findings of the ‘What is important to you?’ consultation have informed the Council Plan for 2016/17. 

Wrexham LSB partners conducted a consultation in September/October 2015 to establish whether the current Equality Objectives were still relevant, needed amending or if anything should be added. 

Analysis of the consultation feedback confirmed that the Council should continue to focus on the existing Strategic Equality Objectives when implementing or further developing the Council Plan and the Strategies and Plan that underpin it.