• £100 fines will be issued for causing disruption to residents
• PSPO adds to other traffic calming measures already in place to make Newham’s roads safer
Newham Council’s Cabinet has agreed today (December 6, 2022) to introduce a PSPO for Motor Vehicle Nuisance within the wards of Beckton, Custom House, Royal Albert, Royal Victoria and Stratford wards.
The PSPO will allow the Council and partners to continue to tackle the borough priority of reducing vehicular anti-social behaviour and nuisance within our communities.
Motor Vehicle Nuisance and Illegal Street Racing has had, and continues to have, a negative impact on residents in affected areas for a number of years and continues to be an issue raised by ward councillors and residents.
The PSPO will enable Police and authorised Council officers to issue £100 fines to anyone visiting the designated areas with the intention of causing harassment, alarm or distress by conducting vehicle related anti-social behaviour.
Cllr Carleene Lee-Phakoe, Cabinet Member for Crime and Community Safety said:
“Residents have raised concerns about motor vehicle nuisance and we have acted on these concerns. No one wants cars racing down their street, cars revving their engines or playing loud music. We want our streets to be safe spaces and it is not acceptable for our streets to be used as a race track.
“We’ve carried out significant work to tackle the issue already, but with the introduction of the PSPO, the Council and the Police will be better equipped to deter and prevent organised street racing and vehicle nuisance activities as well as effectively tackle perpetrators when incidents do occur.
“We have consulted residents and listened to their valuable feedback on how this Order can be most effective and best serve the needs of residents.
“The PSPO will provide an invaluable additional tool for our Police and Council Officers to continue their ongoing work to tackle anti-social behaviour in the borough and make Newham a safer, healthier and happier place to live.”
The report to Cabinet showed there is strong evidence to demonstrate that local communities, including residents, businesses and visitors, have experienced an ongoing problem of anti-social motor vehicle use and Illegal Street racing taking place within certain areas of the borough.
The Council and local Police have received significant complaints from residents regarding vehicle racing and anti-social motor vehicle use at specific hotspots.
Across the whole borough vehicle nuisance related anti-social behaviour has increased in the last year and complaints are now at their highest for 3 years. These reports relate to complaints around dangerous driving including mounting and driving on the pavement, car meets, excessive engine revving and street racing amongst others.
Between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2022, a total of 332 reports were received by the Council alone regarding motor vehicle nuisance. Reported incidents peaked in Beckton and Royal Albert wards, with these two wards accounting for 27% of all complaints submitted to the council. The Council has been working with residents in this area over the last year to prevent this and further permanent measures will follow from the PSPO to tackle this anti-social behaviour.
Additionally, the data highlighted a hotspot in the Pudding Mill Lane area of Stratford Ward. The Police have been notified about 76 incidents involving cars in Pudding Mill Lane during 2022/23.
As a result, Highways & Sustainable Transport have been looking at the introduction traffic calming measures for Barbers Road and Cooks Road in Stratford, to help tackle the issue in this hotspot area of Pudding Lane.
These traffic calming measures include the installation of road humps to slow drivers down, stopping them from racing. Local residents had raised concerns with Stratford ward councillors about car racing in the area and their concerns for the safety of others using the roads.
Cllr Lee-Phakoe added: “The Stratford Ward Councillors raised the issue with me and my fellow Cabinet Member, Cllr James Asser. Our Highways team are developing plans to introduce traffic calming measures to prevent car racing, and now our community safety team are introducing this PSPO to stop this anti-social behaviour.”
The PSPO will be introduced on 18 January 2023 and run for three years.