PSPO proposal for Birmingham city centre 'not a cycling ban', council insists

Birmingham Council has insisted a proposal for a new PSPO in the city centre is not a “ban on cycling”. The council’s plans to 'stop or limit' cycling in particular pedestrian areas have recently proved divisive, with campaign group Better Streets for Birmingham calling them “clumsy” and for them to be dropped.

A recently-published report on the proposed Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) acknowledged the council was proactively encouraging more cycling - but also warned that pedestrians and cyclists mixing could be a “dangerous combination”. It identified delivery drivers on ‘e-cycles’ moving through the city centre “at speed and without care for other pedestrians” as a particularly pressing concern.

“Incidences of near misses and collisions in areas of high footfall have caused the council to consider measures to curb anti-social behaviour by a few cyclists,” the report said. “It would be appropriate to consider whether cycling in pedestrian-only area should be stopped, limited or restricted where there is a high footfall.

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“This could be restricted by time periods, speeds or other measures to encourage the use of cycles safely and ensure the use of cycles is not hindered". The proposals for the PSPO are set to go to public consultation soon.

Sajeela Naseer, the director of regulation and enforcement at the city council, recently told a meeting that the local authority was not making a presumption about what the key issues are when it comes to cycling in the city centre, saying the consultation would “reveal” what these are. But she went on to acknowledge that the council wanted to prevent “irresponsible and dangerous” cycling behaviours within the area that may be designated for the PSPO.

“Clearly we want to stop the use of illegally modified e-bikes; cycling without functioning brakes and other safety equipment; and cycling with disregard to other people,” she told the licensing and public protection committee. She continued that the council needed to have evidence that “cycling is perceived to be an issue that impacts the community using the highway in a negative fashion” before the consultation is launched.

“We have got feedback already and evidence of complaints about using cycles in high-pedestrianised at speed in the city centre,” she continued. “And hence, we want to engage and find out what the issues are.

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“We’re working very closely with our transportation colleagues to make sure that we can articulate clearly that this is not a ban on cycling. This is merely a reflection of how cycles are used in the city centre [...] and whether the use of that negatively impact users of the highway - and whether we should take action, potentially through a PSPO, to put in certain restrictions for the safety of all users of the pedestrianised areas within the city centre.

“It could be by geography, by times, by days - we have no presumptions about what we will do until we’ve gathered any evidence in the consultation process". In the report, the city council said that while the current city centre PSPOs have been effective, new issues are becoming prevalent and attracting complaints from businesses and members of the public.

These are as follows:

• Aggressive/intrusive begging, which is proposed to be added to an existing PSPO that expires in January 2025.
• Illegal street trading, peddling and provision of services, obstruction of the highway and commercial/charitable subscription collectors, which are proposed to be in a new PSPO.
• Cycling in specific pedestrian areas, which is proposed to be a further new PSPO.

“The consultation process would enable additional evidence to be gathered to establish the extent and severity of the anti-social activity within the city centre and to propose an appropriate course of action,” the report added.