Parts of Chester city centre set for barbecue and alcohol ban
People will be banned from lighting fires and using disposable barbecues in parts of a city centre under new measures.A new Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) is set to be introduced in Chester city centre, as the current one is set to expire.Some measures in the current PSPO including banning alcohol consumption and urination in public places will be also be included in the new order.Additionally, the PSPO will include a ban on jumping from the Queens Park Suspension Bridge, although this is already covered by a bye-law.
A PSPO has been in force since 2016 but is due to expire in May, and is set to be replaced with a new order which would run until April 2028.The area has had powers to control jumping from the Queens Park Suspension Bridge into the river or onto a vessel since a bye-law was introduced in 1983.A report to councillors said that between September 2021 and September 2024 there were eight instances seen on CCTV of people jumping from the bridge.The report said there was "strong support" for this bye-law to be part of the PSPO during a recent public consultation.
The report also said that Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service had seen an increase in anti-social behaviour linked to lighting fires and using disposable barbecues.It said the service had attended 11 deliberate fires in the city centre between April 2019 and September 2024.A measure banning events and activities on streets and paths which "impede the passage of any other person" without a licence or written consent to do so, excluding protests, is also set to be introduced.The report said there had been six "large scale obstructions" over the last few years and that just over half of those who responded to a consultation supported the measure.In 2016, the authority had planned to ban rough sleeping in the area through a PSPO but this was scrapped after a backlash.Breaches of the PSPO can lead to a £100 fixed penalty notice or prosecution with a maximum fine of £1,000.The plans will be discussed by Cheshire West and Chester's Cabinet on Wednesday.
Read more stories from Cheshire on the BBC and follow BBC North West on X. For more local politics coverage, BBC Politics North West is on BBC One on Sunday at 10:00am and on BBC iPlayer.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
a day ago
- The Sun
World's first AI minister to govern in Dubai and oversee ALL state companies in dystopian vision of the future
ARTIFICIAL intelligence is becoming more sophisticated every year, and many people are anxious about robots taking over their jobs. But one Middle Eastern country is taking this to a whole new level, bringing AI right into the heart of its government. 3 3 3 Numerous jobs from customer service to data entry are often seen as at risk to being lost to machines in the near future. Yet even government ministers may soon have to worry about losing their jobs to artificial intelligence. From next year, the United Arab Emirates will bring an AI system into its cabinet. This will mark the first time in world history that artificial intelligence has had a seat at a nation's top table. The National Artificial Intelligence System will serve as an advisory member of the UAE 's cabinet. This system is expected to help oversee all of the oil-rich nation's state companies. Dubai 's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid made the stunning announcement on Friday. He began a lengthy X post with some more routine government announcements. These included the establishment of a Ministry of Foreign Trade and a name change to the Ministry of Economy to the Ministry of Economy and Tourism. But then the Dubai ruled shared the jaw-dropping news than an AI system would be brought into the fold. He posted: "We also announce that the National Artificial Intelligence System will be adopted as an advisory member of the Cabinet, the Ministerial Development Council, and all boards of directors of federal entities and government companies, starting in January 2026. "The goal is to support decision-making in these councils, conduct immediate analyses of their decisions, provide technical advice, and enhance the efficiency of government policies adopted by these councils across all sectors. "The world is going through a comprehensive restructuring phase, scientifically, economically, and socially. "And our goal is to prepare today for the coming decades. "Our goal is to ensure continued prosperity and a decent life for future generations." It comes amid a big drive by the UAE to be a top player the field of AI. The country's National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2031 aims to make the country a global leader in the field by that year. The UAE is not the only country looking to further integrate AI into day-to-day life. A robotic futuristic city in Japan with driverless cars and AI-powered homes is preparing to receive its first residents. Toyota's £8billion 'Woven City' project will be found at the base of the Mount Fuji. "We are building a city where everything, people, buildings, vehicles, is connected through sensors and AI," Akio Toyoda, Chairman of Toyota's Board of Directors, has said previously.
Daily Record
a day ago
- Daily Record
North Ayrshire Tory claims 20mph limit is part of 'climate change madness'
He said the policy was all about pleasing the Scottish Government. Bold efforts by the North Ayrshire Tory Group to put the brakes on the Cabinet's support of the Scottish Government's National Strategy for 20mph in Urban areas and approve the implementation of 20mph speed limits stalled on Thursday. At a fiery meeting of the Audit and Scrutiny Committee, the Conservative Group asked Cabinet to: Suspend the implementation of the 20mph speed limit across all roads, pending the outcome of a full review of cost effectiveness, enforceability, and public consultation and to commission an impact assessment as well as taking feedback from a public consultation. Supporting the call-in, North Coast cllr Todd Ferguson said he had been contacted by local business and constituents concerned about the plans. He said: 'As Conservatives we fully support efforts on road safety but believe they must be targeted, evidence-based and proportionate and what is being suggested for the blanket 20mph limit simply does not meet that criteria. 'In North Ayrshire road fatalities remain consistently low although one death is one death too many. 'UK wide we see that when you change signs it limits reduction of speed by only one mile per hour and that changes to 10mph if you include traffic calming but that is not being proposed. 'We had success in Burnhouse and Gateside in getting changes to speed but it did not change behaviour - you had a driver going at 90mph in Burnhouse. We need enforcement but resources are already stretched." Tory Group Leader Cameron Inglis suggested the policy was "smoke and mirrors" and was all about pleasing the Scottish Government by persuading people to stop using their cars as "part of this climate change madness". Tony Gurney, Cabinet member for the Environment and Green Economy said: 'This is more than a transport policy - it's an investment in public safety. 'This is not a blanket, it has been consulted throughout North Ayrshire. Implementation is recommended only where we see a clear safety benefit. We will implement 20mph zones and that is an opportunity for enforcement by police. 'It is not about flowing traffic, it is about safety. According to the Department of Transport the chances of pedestrians being killed more than halves when speed is reduced to 20mph from 30mph. "A child hit by a car has a one in five chance of dying in 30mph in 20mph drops dramatically to one in 40. 'The British Medical Journal links 20mph to a 40 per cent reduction in road casualties. "Lives are saved, injuries prevented, NHS costs reduced. Lower speeds give drivers time to react. That extra second can be different between a close call and a tragedy." Independent cllr Donald L Reid said: "I was in office with the Police from 1967 to 1999 and this encompasses what it is all about, speed kills. "Anything we can do to reduce speed must be a priority. If we can keep speed down to 20mph that is sensible and with a bit of hard work we can probably achieve this. "We saw how drink driving became unacceptable, how wearing seatbelts became the norm and helmets for cyclists and motorcyclists helped save many lives, I don't see how we can't make our streets safer.' A motion to reject the call-in, allowing the policy to stand, defeated an amendment by the Tory Group to accept the call-in and send the matter back to the cabinet for further consideration by six votes to three.
Daily Record
a day ago
- Daily Record
South Ayrshire Tourist Tax put on the back burner for two years
The upfront costs, a lack of definitive 'cash benefit', and industry opposition led to councillors agreeing to pause the project for at least a couple of years. A new South Ayrshire tourist tax has been put on the back burner. But tourism spokesperson, Councillor Alec Clark, believes that despite the nature of the tax offered by the Scottish Government, a visitor levy was inevitable. South Ayrshire Council's Cabinet heard that a visitor levy of between one and five per cent would bring in between £400k and £2m a year at most. However, significant upfront costs, a lack of definite cash benefits and the opposition of major tourism groups, led to officials recommending a two year pause. Assistant Director of Communities, George Hunter, told the Cabinet on Wednesday: 'Officers have been considering the pros and cons of a visitor levy, including an open consultation that ran for the best part of three months.' He said that the Scottish Tourism Alliance, which is the industry body for tourism, had raised concerns about potential impact on Scotland's competitiveness as a tourism destination. The Federation of Small Businesses also raised concerns about the impact and small accommodation providers who may struggle with the administrative burden of collecting the levy. He continued: 'The FSB have also expressed concerns, supported by engagement with local accommodation providers about the potential negative impact on the local economy. A similar position was taken by The Association of Scottish Self-Caterists who said that, given the current challenging economic climate, the levy would be an additional burden on their members. The project has been part of the council's transformation programme. Mr Hunter said that officers on the transformation board had looked at the survey feedback and had recommended a pause that would allow them to monitor the impact in other areas which had already agreed to go ahead with a levy. Councillor Clark said: 'I agree with the outcome and I agree that it has to be reviewed in August 2027. 'I do believe, eventually, we will have a tourist levy. The problem this particular time is that it was complex. 'It was from the very beginning. The Scottish Government decided to make it a percentage levy, whereas anywhere else has a flat rate. 'That complicated things from the start, because it was a percentage not necessarily of a whole hotel. You have to break that down. 'That causes administration costs right away. It is obviously taken up by the City of Edinburgh and Glasgow, because they themselves have the amount of tourism to justify it, and it'll be interesting to see how Argyll and Bute Council go along with this. 'I think that the problem with the survey is that if you had surveyed the nation or a town to say if they would like to a tax rise, the answer is going to come back 'No', it's a negative. 'So we go anywhere in Europe, travel anywhere else in the world, and you pay a visitor levy. 'And that visitor levy goes towards making improvements to the tourism offer, and indeed to the suburbs. 'The problem here is the way that the rest of levy is constructed to be distributed is complicated. 'It's not just a certain manner of distribution that South Ayrshire can turn and say, okay, we bring in £200k and we will use that £200k for x, y and z. 'I think it goes through, though I stand to be corrected, a different type of board who than decide what the priorities are, and it's not necessarily what way we decide. 'So, overall, I do agree with what we're doing. I support the paper. But, I do think in the end, when the review comes, it may be looked at in a different manner. 'I would hope that the process coming out the Scottish Government is more straightforward.' Following a query from Councillor Hugh Hunter on the specific reason to remove the levy project from the transformation portfolio, Assistant Director of Transformation, Louise Reid, pointed out that the guidance from Audit Scotland requires the work of the board to deliver 'cashable benefits.' She said: 'As yet, we've been unable to clearly identify what the cashable benefits would be from the introduction of a visitor levy, given the set-up costs that involved developing the new technology, implementing systems and processes. 'There's also a resource requirement up front that would be required. Now, given that there's an also an 18 month consultation that's statutory in place, those costs would be over a number of financial years until we're actually able to generate any benefits from it. 'So, given the focus of the transformation program is on projects that are going to support the council's budget deficit and financial sustainability, that's the recommendation that it should move to this point.' Cabinet agreed to pause the visitor levy programme until August 2027.
