PSPO order to be kept in Failsworth

A group of neighbours in Failsworth was left ‘relieved beyond words’ after the council decided to keep a protection order in place on an alleyway known as a crime hotspot.

Council officers initially suggested removing a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) on Hampton Road, including the removal of two alley gates in a report for a highways meeting last night (Thursday).

But local pensioner Judith Tomlinson-Harrison claims she would be left ‘scared for her safety’ if the council lifted the PSPO, a measure that helps local authorities crack down on anti-social behaviour. 

Tomlinson-Harrison told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I was scared stiff.  

"I wouldn’t feel safe in my own home, if those gates were taken down.

"I lost my wife 10 years ago and I’ve just come through three years of caring for my very elderly mother.

"I’m completely on my own. 

“Before the gates you’d often hear people at night, and the next day you’d see evidence of drug use.

"And the other concern was that it was a bit of a getaway passage for burglaries.

"Getting rid of the gates could bring that all back. It’s now safe.” 

The gates were first proposed in 2009, after the council found that criminal behaviour was leading to a ‘serious impact on quality of life’ for local residents.

Tomlinson-Harrison, who shared that she and her wife had been the first gay couple in Oldham to legally marry under a civil partnership, has lived on the street for 36 years.

She added she’d considered ‘selling up’ if the PSPO was lifted, but would have been ‘heartbroken’ to leave the home where she lived with her partner for more than two decades. 

Council officers recommended throwing out the protection order because an existing ‘informal’ arrangement could ‘not be sustained long-term’.

A member of Oldham’s First Response Team would unlock and lock the gates at the beginning and end of every day, so that pedestrians could use the path as a thoroughfare. 

Locking the gates permanently would have caused accessibility issues for neighbours with limited mobility, so officers recommended removing them entirely. 

But shortly before the meeting, a new arrangement could be met with neighbours, who volunteered to take over the stewardship of the gates. 

Community officer Philip Bonworth said: “The recommendation has now been amended.

"A number of residents have come forward who have volunteered to lock and unlock the gate … which would allow the scheme to be used as a cut-through for pedestrians at set hours of the day and restrict potential for anti-social and criminal behaviour at this location.”

Councillors unanimously agreed to keep the PSPO order in place.

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