Council targets street drinking and fly-tipping

Great Yarmouth Borough Council is being recommended to approve a bid for government cash to fund additional police officers for town centre duties

The manager of a town centre hopes £1.15m of funding will tackle hotspots of anti-social behaviour, street drinking and fly-tipping.

Great Yarmouth Borough Council wants to use the government money to fund additional police officers and reduce fly-tipping to achieve cleaner streets.

A Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) targeting anti-social behaviour was introduced in the town in the spring.

Jonathan Newman, town centre manager, said: "I think perception of crime does have a significant impact on people's enjoyment of the town centre... the general public will be very pleased to hear action is being planned to make Great Yarmouth town centre a safer place."

The council is also proposing to spend the funding on overflowing bins in communal areas which attract gulls and empty properties which can attract crimes, including arson.

Town centre manager Jonathan Newman says there are issues that deter people from visiting shops

Mr Newman said there were hotspots of anti-social behaviour within the town centre which has impacted retailers and visitor numbers.

He said current enforcement within the town did not "meet the needs" of the ongoing issues and street drinking was "predominantly" a problem.

"Situations can escalate very quickly when you've got groups of people drinking large amounts of alcohol over a long period of time and that is when you're much more in need of police assistance to deal with those issues... violent behaviour, aggressive behaviour, noisy behaviour, that detracts from the type of town centre environment we want to encourage."

According to the authority, the PSPO which was implemented earlier in the year, has led to more than 25 fixed penalty notices being served.

The order gives police and council officers additional powers to issue warnings and fines which can lead to arrests.

Sharon Dolan, 52, of Great Yarmouth, says she has doubts it will work because of issues with courts and prisons

Sharon Dolan, who lives in the town, said fly tipping and people dropping rubbish was an issue in the town.

"No one seems to care anymore because it's someone else's job," she said.

"I don't think we have the respect we used to have in authority. It has slowly eroded over time.

"Unfortunately, police don't get the back up... the courts aren't speedy enough, the jails are full. The police are here really to take the brunt of it."

Ria Jones, 31, of Pakefield and Jamie Quin, 35 of Lowestoft, say tackling anti-social behaviour and fly tipping would make the town centre feel more safe

Jamie Quin and Ria Jones thought the town looked cleaner and better maintained than when they last visited.

However, Mr Quinn, who used to work in the town as a tattooist, said anti-social behaviour still seemed to be a problem.

He said: "I know there's lots of problems with anti-social behaviour definitely.

"You would have clients who wouldn't want to go outside... people walking past would be drunk in the mornings and it's not nice the way you get spoken to sometimes."

The funding is due to be discussed in a council cabinet meeting on Tuesday.