24 November 2014
Skateboarders, war veterans and Green councillors forced a climb-down today from the city council over a skateboard ban for Norwich. The council withdrew the report to full council including the recommendation to pass the skateboarding byelaw across parts of the city centre. Since the ban was proposed in June 2014, Green Party councillors have opposed it and questioned cabinet members and officers about the lack of consultation. This is a great step forward won by skateboarding campaigners in Norwich with help from the likes of Long Live South Bank [1] and support from Green councillors. [2]
Sandra Bogelein, Green Party councilor says: “This is a clear victory for people power. Skateboarders working together with war veterans and Green Party councilors have forced the council to listen. I hope we can continue the positive dialogue we started between the groups. I also hope this time people don’t have to announce they are going to show up in hundreds outside city hall in order to be properly consulted.”
The proposed bylaw triggered a huge amount of opposition amongst the skateboarding community and Norwich residents. A petition against the ban received almost 6000 signatures and over 300 people have confirmed their attendance at a demonstration against the ban on Tuesday in advance of the full council meeting. 92% of answers responded no to the flawed consultation question which only allowed for participants to agree or disagree with making the banned area bigger.
The argument raised by the council that this ban is necessary to protect the war memorial further did not stand up to scrutiny. A meeting on Saturday initiated by Green Party councilors between representatives from the war veteran associations and the skateboarding community resulted in a very positive dialogue about alternative ways of protecting the war memorial without infringing on civil liberties. Together the meeting came up with a whole list of solutions that would be more efficient in protecting the war memorial than a ban that criminalises young people.
Many people, including representatives from the war veteran associations further pointed out the flawed consultation process. Both sides stated that they had not been involved or approached by the council. Requests to the Council for further information on the consultation and the evidence basis for the proposed bylaw were never answered.
Finally today, Norwich City Council, due to the increasing public pressure, withdrew the report and the recommendation for a bylaw for decision.
A new report from the city council suggests implementing a 12 week consultation on a Public Space Protection Order covering the War Memorial and Memorial Gardens only. The council cites this as a less bureaucratic approach with the ultimate sanction available being a fixed penalty notice. There is still some concern as to stigmatising young people and not just anti-social behaviour in the area but these will be resolved in due course.
Councillor Lucy Howard has played a key role in opposing the byelaw and said: “If we want to ensure the proposed Public Space Protection Order is an appropriate tool with which to protect the war memorial and gardens, the council must ensure the twelve week consultation does more than pay lip-service to community engagement. I’d like to avoid the council rushing headlong into yet another untested proposal. What is needed is thorough research and evaluation of the evidence before a vote is taken.”
Green councillors will continue to work on this issue to assure a democratic process is properly followed this time and the best outcome is achieved for all parties involved.
Links:
1. http://www.llsb.com/llsb-open-letter-to-norwich-city-councils-proposed-skate-ban/
