£100 fines approved for 'car cruising', bird feeding, shopping trolley theft and other nuisances in Sunderland

New council powers to tackle the anti-social use of cars, motorised bikes and scooters, and the use of vapes in play areas, have been given the green light by city leaders.

Sunderland City Council’s cabinet of senior councillors, at a meeting this week, agreed to renew and expand powers under the city’s Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO).

First introduced in the city centre in 2017 and extended citywide in 2019, the PSPO gives the council enforcement powers around alcohol control, dog control and prohibiting certain behaviour in public spaces.

The PSPO helps to”limit and restrict activities which cause nuisance or lead to problems for a community”, according to a council report, and gives the council powers to issue fixed penalty notices.

This includes a fixed penalty notice of £100 to anyone who doesn’t comply with the PSPO measures, which is reduced to £75 if paid within 10 days.

Those failing to pay could also see court action resulting in a fine of up to £1,000 at the Magistrates’ Court.

New measures proposed as part of the PSPO renewal would allow the council to ban activities linked with ‘car cruising’, which the city council states can put people and properties at risk.

Problem activities can range from speeding, racing and performing stunts, to sounding horns, playing loud music, using foul or abusive language and/or threatening or intimidating behaviour, and causing obstructions.

Other new enforcement powers and changes approved by the council’s cabinet this week include measures to:

:: Ban smoking and vaping in designated play areas.

:: Extend the £100 fixed penalty notice for anyone taking a shopping trolley from a designated retail area and dumping it in a residential area (extended from parts of Washington to citywide).

:: Require dog walkers to reduce the length of a lead, to make sure the dog is under control and at heel when requested by an authorised officer (the council states this would make it easier for officers to deal with dog owners who behave irresponsibly).

:: Ban the use of motorised bikes or scooters in a manner that would “cause damage to property or cause annoyance to other people in the area”.

:: Require people to provide their personal details, including their name, address and date of birth to an authorised officer upon request.

:: Extend dog fouling powers to include land that is “open to the air” and publicly-accessible, rather than just council land.

The new powers will join those covered by the current PSPO, including measures to tackle people drinking alcohol in a public place causing or likely to cause anti-social behaviour, the use of psychoactive substances in a public place and restrictions on unauthorised street events on adopted highways.

Other restricted activities include antisocial use of skateboards, bicycles and stunt bicycles, feeding of gulls and pigeons, waste on land, ‘bin raking’, urinating and defecating in public places, and spitting and discarding chewing gum.

The order also covers the exclusion of dogs from play areas, sport pitches, resort areas and a requirement for dogs to be placed on leads when requested to do so by an authorised officer, and for dog walkers to be able to produce a ‘suitable means of picking up after their dog’.

Councillor Claire Rowntree, deputy leader of the council and cabinet member for Green Clean City, said the PSPO changes had been informed by consultation with partners, residents and businesses.

Cllr Rowntree said the proposals aimed to “improve our city and make it a better and safer space for everybody to be able to enjoy”.

In response to questions at the cabinet meeting, the Labour councillor added the enforcement strategy around the PSPO would be shared in future.

Councillor Paul Edgeworth, leader of the Wearside Liberal Democrats, said the PSPO had “got the balance right” around several key issues and that the approach to dog walkers was “sensible”.

The opposition councillor, who attended the cabinet meeting, also called for assurances that the approach around ‘aggressive begging’ would not effectively “criminalise homeless people”.

Meanwhile, Labour councillor Linda Williams, cabinet member for children, learning and skills, welcomed action on car cruising and trolleys and said the PSPO took a tough stance on problem dog owners.

Cllr Williams told the meeting: “I absolutely accept there’s an awful lot of people who love their dogs and look after them really well.

“We’re faced with this tiny minority of horrible people who won’t pick up after their dog and let their dog run riot, and sadly I think it’s time to deal with them a little more severely”.

Sunderland City Council’s cabinet of senior councillors discussed and approved the proposals at a meeting at City Hall on March 14, 2024, with the new PSPO covering the next three years.