Council Proposes New Byelaws To Tackle Anti-social Behaviour


Views sought on plans to offer more protection to 35 green spaces



Putney Lower Common Cemetery - Andrew Wilson @andrewpics

A series of proposed byelaws designed to tackle anti-social behaviour in some of the borough’s smaller local parks and open spaces has been unveiled.

A public consultation is now underway, which runs until March 31, and gives local people the chance to offer their views on the proposals.

At present there are byelaws in place to discourage bad behaviour in the borough’s biggest parks and open spaces, including Battersea Park, Wandsworth Common and Tooting Common.

These byelaws allow the council to take action against littering, dog fouling, flytipping, vandalism, rowdy behaviour, traveller occupations, moped riding and aggressive or dangerous cycling, plus many other forms of undesirable and unacceptable behaviour.

But there are 35 parks and green spaces in Wandsworth, including cemeteries and playing fields, where these rules do not apply. As a result the council is now keen to ensure that these important local amenities - and the people who use and enjoy them - are given appropriate extra layers of protection. The parks and spaces are:

Barn Elms Sports Centre, SW13 (Barnes – London Borough of Richmond))

Battersea New Cemetery, SM4 (Morden – London Borough of Merton))

Battersea Rise Cemetery, SW11 (Northcote)

Bramford Gardens, SW18 (Fairfield)

Causeway Spit, SW18 (Fairfield)

Christchurch Gardens, SW11 (Latchmere)

Coronation Gardens, SW18 (Southfields)

Cunliffe Street Open Space, SW16 (Furzedown)

Dover House Road Playing Fields, SW15 (Roehampton and Putney Heath)

Elspeth Road Open Space, SW11 (Shaftesbury)

Falcon Park, SW11 (Latchmere)

Fishponds Playing Fields, SW17 (Tooting)

Fountain Road Recreation Ground, SW17 (Tooting)

Fred Wells Gardens, SW11 (St Mary’s Park)

Furzedown Recreation Ground, SW17 (Furzedown)

Garratt Lane Old Burial Ground, SW18 (Fairfield)

Garratt Park, SW17 (Earlsfield)

Godley Gardens, SW18 (Wandsworth Common)

Harroway Road Open Space, SW11 (St Mary’s Park)

Heathbrook Park, SW8 (Queenstown)

Huguenot Burial Ground, SW18 (Fairfield)

John Burns Playground, SW11 (Shaftesbury)

King George’s Park, SW18 (Southfields)

Latchmere Recreation Ground, SW11 (Latchmere)

Lavender Gardens, SW11 (Shaftesbury)

Leader’s Gardens, SW15 (Thamesfield)

Montefiore Gardens, SW8 (Queenstown)

Openview Sports Ground, SW18 (Wandsworth Common)

Petergate Open Space, SW11 (Latchmere)

Putney Lower Common Cemetery, SW15 (Thamesfield)

Putney Old Burial Ground, SW15 (East Putney)

Putney Park Lane, SW15 (West Putney)

Putney Vale Cemetery, SW15 (Roehampton)

Queenstown Road Open Space, SW8 (Queenstown)

Shillington Street Open Space, SW11 (Latchmere)

Swaby Gardens, SW18 (Earlsfield)

The Pleasance, SW15 (West Putney)

Tooting Gardens, SW17 (Tooting)

Upper Tooting Park, SW17 (Nightingale)

Wandsworth Cemetery, SW18 (Wandsworth Common)

Waterman’s Green, SW15 (Thamesfield)

York Gardens, SW11 (Latchmere)

Accordingly, the council is now proposing to introduce a set of byelaws drawn up by the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) which can be used by any local authority that wants to offer enhanced levels of protection to their open spaces.


Environment spokesman Cllr Jonathan Cook, pictured left, said: “These proposals are designed to fill in the gap that exists between our biggest and smallest local parks. What we want to do is make sure that we are able to properly deal with problems of bad behaviour that damage our parks, causes distress and upset to those who want to enjoy them and in extreme cases, may even deter people from visiting them.

“Having adequate powers to tackle issues like flytipping, dog fouling and traveller invasions in each and every one of our parks and open spaces is in the interests of the wider law-abiding community and so I would urge residents who support these efforts to take part in this consultation.”

Details of the proposals can be found at online.

Alternatively visit the council’s website.

March 10, 2017