A Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) aiming to tackle antisocial behaviour on a Hambleton industrial estate looks set to be revised after nearly 900 warnings about parking there overnight were issued to drivers.
Hambleton District Council is running a second public consultation over its crackdown on Leeming Bar Industrial Estate, near Bedale, which is the base for scores of firms including the £750m turnover R&R Ice Cream.
The authority launched the PSPO in May following complaints from residents and traders over drivers using the area to sleep overnight, often with their vehicles running, the depositing of human excrement and urine and littering as well as road safety concerns.
Spot checks had shown up to 40 vehicles were parked on the estate or surrounding area on most weekday evenings.
The move, which enabled the council to issue £100 fixed penalty notices to anyone breaking the ban, was welcomed by many firms and residents. But the Road Haulage Association said more overnight parking facilities were needed in the area for drivers.
The PSPO aimed to stop drivers remaining in their vehicles overnight and using them to provide accommodation, but the authority is now asking for views on whether it should specify times when “remaining in any vehicle” should be banned and also prohibit leaving human waste and litter.
A council spokesman said since May, there had been 148 patrols of the estate to check for drivers flouting the ban and 879 leaflets warning about the PSPO had been handed out.
The average number of leaflets issued per patrol has dropped from 10.8 to 3.64.
The spokesman said: “Despite the efforts made by the council to inform drivers using the area of the prohibition on sleeping in their vehicles and the anti-social behaviour associated with this, there has been a continued use of the area albeit at a reduced rate.”
Leeming Bar ward member Councillor Carl Les said while it appeared some progress had been made during an “education phase”, the situation at the industrial estate was “not perfect yet”.
He said: “We have now had the education phase and the review after six months was always planned.”
Campaigner Andy Strangeway has repeatedly challenged the local authority to issue him with a £100 fixed penalty notice, saying the council had not defined “overnight”.
He said: “The reason they did not issue over 500 £100 fixed penalty notices after the education phase is that the original PSPO was unenforceable.”
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