Three PSPOs in Dorking and Leatherhead extended

Feedback received during a five-week public consultation exercise run over the summer has helped inform Mole Valley District Council’s decision to renew the Public Spaces Protection Orders in place at Meadowbank Recreation Ground and Dorking town centre, and to agree a new, slightly expanded, order for Leatherhead town centre.

Three Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) in Meadowbank Recreation Ground and Leatherhead and Dorking town centres were due to expire in October 2023, and Mole Valley District Council (MVDC) had to decide whether to extend one, two, or all three PSPOs before they lapsed.

PSPOs can be introduced in an identified location to help address specific concerns of low-level anti-social behaviour. PSPOs give MVDC and Surrey Police the power to issue a Fixed Penalty Notice or start formal prosecution if one or more of the specific anti-social behaviour restrictions set out in a PSPO is breached by an individual or a group of people.

The Dorking and Leatherhead town centre PSPOs in place since 2020 restrict the public consumption of alcohol in our town centres. The Meadowbank PSPO, also in place for the past three years, covers the consumption of alcohol, use of intoxicating substances, dog fouling and restricting dog access in the park, including the playground.

MVDC ran three individual area-specific public consultations from 5 June to 10 July 2023 to understand whether there was support from local residents and businesses to not only renew the PSPOs, but help decide how long they should be extended for – within the maximum available period of three years – and whether the conditions set out in the PSPOs were still relevant.

Responses to the consultation were, in the main, supportive of a PSPO remaining in the three locations for the maximum three year period. To view the results of these consultations, in addition to information about two other recently renewed PSPOs in Mole Valley, please visit www.molevalley.gov.uk/pspo.

Having considered feedback received during the public consultation, alongside responses from other stakeholders such as Surrey Police, MVDC has agreed that the PSPOs will remain in place for the next three years. The Meadowbank and Dorking town centre PSPOs have been renewed, and a new slightly expanded Leatherhead town centre PSPO that now covers Sunmead Parade has been introduced until October 2026.

Mole Valley District Commander, Inspector James Green, said: “Surrey Police has worked closely with MVDC to review the effectiveness of the PSPOs and are fully support the current renewals. PSPOs are very effective in deterring anti-social behaviour in areas that have, in the past, been subject to higher levels of ASB. We are committed to supporting joint initiatives to patrol and enforce the PSPOs in order to create a safer community for all.”

Councillor Paul Kennedy, MVDC’s Cabinet Member for Internal Services and Security, said: “I would like to thank everyone who contributed to the consultations, and helped support our decision to renew all three PSPOs. Many local residents and businesses clearly value these measures to deter antisocial behaviour in our public spaces, and want to see them enforced. So I particularly welcome Surrey Police’s commitment to extending joint patrols with MVDC’s own Joint Enforcement Team.”