Street culture under threat from a PSPO— Does this sound familiar? Thanks to your support Oxford and a legal challenge Oxford significantly altered their plans to criminalise buskers and the homeless though major challenges remain in Oxford, but now street culture in Gravesend faces a similar threat. A criminal record and £1000 fine for feeding birds, sleeping rough, busking, riding bikes and begging in a mis-conceived PSPO proposal. The proposed PSPO would also make it a criminal offence to 'lie down or sleep in any public place', to feed birds, to busk without permission and to beg using 'verbal, non-verbal or written requests' as well as riding bikes down certain streets. The proposals will have a hugely disproportionate effect upon vulnerable and dispossessed people in Gravesend, particularly the homeless and vulnerably housed as well as representing a direct assault on the spontaneity, informality and democratic access to public space for the arts and street culture. Gravesham Borough Council are currently carrying out an online consultation on the proposals which ends on November 15. It is vitally important that people participate in this consultation whether they are residents, visitors, tourists, buskers or people who care about civic freedoms, public space and social justice. The more people who take part in this survey and express their constructive opposition to these damaging proposals, the more chance we have of ensuring that they do not go through. The consultation will take between 10/20 minutes to complete depending upon the amount of detail you go into it. Your response will make a big difference to this campaign, so please find the time to do it if you can! Link to the online consultation: http://www.gravesham.gov.uk/services/council-and-democracy/consultations/public-space-protection-order Link to our response: http://keepstreetslive.com/uncategorized/2015/11/gravesham-borough-council-join-the-attack-on-street-culture-with-new-pspo-proposal Link to the petition against the PSPO, please sign if you can: https://www.change.org/p/gravesham-council-don-t-punish-your-homeless-don-t-criminalise-your-buskers-cyclists-and-bird-feeders We strongly encourage people to take part in this online consultation and to answer the questions as they see fit. We have published our answers to a selection of questions on the consultation as a reference for people and to explain our reasons for opposing the PSPO clearly. Please feel free to use our answers as a framework for your own responses. On a far more positive note Liverpool City Council sent a strong message to other UK local authorities when they abandoned a PSPO proposal at the consultation phase that would have seen beggars facing punitive fines of up to £1000, as well as measures that could have seen community groups being dragged through the courts for gathering petition signatures on a table in the city centre without advance permission, or distributing food and drink to the homeless from a table or other unauthorised temporary structure (http://www.liverpoolconfidential.co.uk/news-and-comment/plans-to-fine-liverpool-beggars-1000-scrapped) 

It is to Liverpool City Council's credit that they took notice of growing concerns about the impact of their proposals on vulnerable people in the city and cancelled their plans. We hope that other local authorities, like Gravesham Borough Council for instance, take heed of Liverpool's example and act accordingly!

 With thanks for your support which has helped us to make a big difference in Oxford already, 

 Jonny Walker 
Founding director Keep Streets Live Campaign 
http://keepstreetslive.com