As mentioned at the BPF meeting on Saturday, the Full Council meeting on 18th March will be considering the proposed byelaws.
The proposed byelaws and the list of parks that they will apply to are included in the report at item 10B at in the meeting papers that can be seen on the Council’s website here. The report also details the results of last year’s public consultation.
Most of the byelaws are written such that the activity is prohibited except in designated areas. For example byelaw 27 says: ‘No person shall in any waterway cast a net or line for the purpose of catching fish or other animals except in a designated area for fishing’.
So it is not the intention to ban all the activities in all parks. Once the byelaws are agreed there will be a process of agreeing which activities need to be banned in which areas. Bristol Parks will then be able to vary the designated areas if particular problems arise.
In the report the Council says:
‘By introducing byelaws, there is no intention to restrict people’s freedom to use parks and green spaces or to impose a blanket ‘ban’ on the activities covered in the proposed byelaws. The aim is only to tackle activities that are of an anti-social nature and cause considerable nuisance to other parks users and local residents’.
The byelaws have the support of the Police, who along with PCSOs and Council Officers will be involved in the enforcement process where required. They are are based on model byelaws Set 2 (2006) published on the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) website, subject to minor amendment to reflect the issues in Bristol’s parks and open spaces.
Any public statements for the meeting need to be submitted by 12 noon on 17th March 2014 by email to democratic.services@bristol.gov.uk or faxed to 0117 9222146 or sent to Bristol City Council, Democratic Services Section, Room 220, City Hall, College Green, Bristol, BS1 5TR.
