THE STAR of the BBC’s Cowboy Builders Dominic Littlewood has been investigating Oxford’s draconian Public Space Protection Order (PSPOs) in Cornmarket Street, according to the Oxford Mail.

Oxford City Council’s PSPO has caused protest from a coalition of groups in Oxford, including more recently the boating community, who are currently being threatened with an extended PSPO. The campaign group Liberty and the humorous writer and broadcaster Mark Steel have also expressed grave concern with the council’s policies because they weaken Magna Carter’s gift of liberty and freedom which England has enjoyed for 800 years. The implementation of a PSPO not only severely weakens our tradition it criminalises activities like busking.

Rosehill and East Oxford Community Centre have been managed by local people for decades until recently. Now the majority of Oxford’s centres are actually managed, not by local people, but by the council. Its policies are unnecessarily draconian and are rightly being questioned and resisted.

CHAKA ARTWELL
Barton, Oxford