After 4 years of campaigning, last week representatives from C2BK met with members of Chelmsford City Council under its new leadership, Councillors Chris Davidson and Chloe Tron and I am delighted to say that it was the most productive meeting we have ever had with the Council. We left full of hope and optimism that they really want to make positive changes towards rough sleeping in Chelmsford. We hope we now have an opportunity to make a real difference as the new administration has committed to working with C2BK. Several of our proposals were agreed to be actioned and others are to be ‘investigated’ further. One of the things they have immediately actioned is an amendment to the Public Space Protection Order as below:
“The Public Space Protection order is being amended in order to give rough sleepers a far less chance of being prosecuted. Anti-social behaviour arising from aggressive begging is a recurring problem within the city centre. However, enforcement is carried out using Community Protection Warnings and Community Protection Notices rather than the PSPO so the aggressive begging element of the existing PSPO can be removed.”
We will keep you informed as other joint projects develop.