THE NEW Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) has become the city council’s solution to the problems of city living.
This year, Oxford City Centre became a PSPO Zone, and additionally, the Oxford Mail reports (March 1) plans for the River Thames, the Cherwell and Oxford canal to be subject to a PSPO Zone.
This is a large stretch of the River Thames and Cllr Colin Cook was gracious enough to inform Oxford Mail readers of the real reason we are witnessing the increase use of PSPO is because ‘It will make enforcement easier and less expensive.’ For the council, PSPO makes enforcement ‘easy’. Clearly, for all the problems of urban living, the council will use PSPO as the ‘easy’ solution.
PSPO undermine the legal notion of ‘Innocent until proven guilty by a Jury (or Court) of your peers’. The people of Oxford should also be very concerned with the increase use of PSPO because it changes our status in the courts.
CHAKA ARTWELL
Barton, Oxford
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