Council to decide on booze ban

A NEW order banning people from drinking alcohol in two South Wales town centres could be approved following concerns about booze-related crime.

The altered public space protection order for the centres of Pontypridd and Aberdare would mean no drinking allowed apart from at licensed bars and clubs.

It could be enforced after an upcoming public consultation by Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) council.

It comes after alcohol was identified by more than a quarter of those asked as the single biggest cause of crime and disorder in the two towns.

The order would see the two towns become “intoxicating substance exclusion zones”. The issue is set to be discussed by the council’s cabinet next week.

It follows a town centre survey last year that identified the problem after asking members of the public for their views.

Comments made in the survey and printed in the report to go before cabinet include: “It’s so normal it seems part of the normal working day. Little is done about it even when reported.

“People walking through town drinking alcohol during the day are so commonplace I could be constantly complaining to the authorities! Also people sit in the park drinking and this never seems to be stopped.

“Almost a daily issue in Pontypridd, youths who are drunk/substance misuse.

“It’s a regular occurrence to see drunk/drugged members of the public in the town, it’s not often that I see them causing any trouble; it’s just not appealing to see whilst using the town.”

The report says the council has made the move after the RCT area was ranked second highest in Wales for the rate of alcohol use.

In RCT, alcohol accounts for 62% of referrals to substance use services in Cwm Taf, the region with the highest rate of alcohol-related deaths.

If approved by cabinet on Tuesday, there will be an eight-week public consultation, with the order also set to retain the public space protection order for the whole of RCT as a “controlled drinking zone”. While that does not specify a ban it means police and officers can make anyone stop drinking and surrender their alcohol or any containers “if they are causing or likely to cause anti-social behaviour”.

The report also predicts the council will need to provide new signage at the towns’ main entry points, estimated to cost “less than £5,000”.