Northampton alleyway rife with anti-social behaviour set to be gated off

Following a 12-week consultation with residents, Northampton Borough Council’s cabinet is set to agree to restrict public access to the alleyway linking Dunster Street and St Michaels Road by installing gates.

It is set to enact a piece of legislation known as a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) which will make it illegal to engage in anti-social behaviour in the alleyway, and those who flout it could face a £100 fine.

The authority has already set up successful PSPOs for Jeyes Jetty near McDonald’s on Drapery, while the alleyway known as Marble Arch has seen a decrease in incidents since a gate and PSPO was introduced there in 2017 between Barrack Road and Ash Street.

Of the 71 responses to the online survey, 83 per cent of the respondents indicated that they were in favour of gating the alleyway between Dunster Street and St Michael’s Road for 24

hours a day and seven days a week. And 42 per cent of respondents indicated that they had

experienced or witnessed anti-social behaviour taking place in the alleyway on a regular basis, while 29 per cent of respondents indicated that they had experienced or witnessed such behaviour in the alleyway on an occasional basis.

A council report said: “Gating the alleyway between Dunster Street and St. Michael’s Road would take away a hot spot for street drinking, drug dealing, public urination and fly tipping and remove a place with extremely limited natural surveillance for other criminal activities. Legitimate pedestrian users of Dunster Street can use the alternative route of Alcombe Terrace/Alcombe Road/Grove Road to access Kettering Road.”

Members of the Conservative cabinet are likely to agree to the proposals when they meet next Wednesday (January 20).