There has been a significant increase in the volume of people doing the Otley Run after the pandemic. Many people come from out of the area and the run is advertised on social media. Here's what we've been doing in collaboration with the police, council, and venues to tackle the problems and make our community safer for everyone.
What we’ve achieved in the last 12 months:
We got the Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) changed so that for the first time people can be fined for public urination, pavement blocking, and verbal harassment.
Signage in pubs along the Otley Run and inside the pubs to remind people of the PSPO.
Pubs in Weetwood now have doorstaff to deal with queues outside.
Change to local Licensing policy so that new venues or venues changing their licence have to have conditions that will stop them adding to the 'cumulative' impact of the Otley Run (recent examples at Residence in Headingley and the new 'Catch' premises)
Meetings between us, police, and council officers every six weeks to keep reviewing issues as they arise.
What we're working on for the year ahead:
The main issue preventing more enforcement is cuts to the council and police budgets. There is limited resource in the city. We could just complain about this, but we’re working creatively and have a plan to get more enforcement:
Bank Holiday Action Days starting in May, with visible enforcement presence from the council and police.
We’re close to securing a more visible, permanent extra enforcement presence on the High Street in addition to the police.
The council have also committed to running a social media campaign to warn people doing the Otley Run about consequences of ASB.
Most importantly: please report all incidents of crime or ASB. The best ways to report are 999 if urgent, 101 if non urgent or online (search ‘report crime west yorkshire’). The police assure us that these reports will be used to build the case for more enforcement.
As councillors who all live in the ward, we are concerned about the impact of the Otley Run on residents of all ages and are working hard to make Headingley a safe and thriving place for everyone.
