My campaign to make Danebury Avenue an alcohol-free zone

Recently I wrote to the Council's Chief Executive and the Chief Superintendent of Wandsworth Police to urge them to take action on one of the biggest concerns I come across on the Alton estate: the impact of street drinkers on the Danebury Avenue area.

I want to see an alcohol exclusion zone introduced in this bit of Roehampton that bans the drinking of alcohol in public. Your rights to buy alcohol would be unaltered. At present Roehampton's Safer Neighbourhood Police has the power to move on street drinkers who hang around outside the library and post office in Danebury Avenue pretty much all day.

An alcohol exclusion zone would give the police the power to confiscate and pour away any alcoholic drinks - and faced with this prospect I suspect the drinkers would soon disappear.

Tackling the problem of street drinkers in Danebury Avenue is really important according to local residents and businesses. It is the biggest issue raised with me by Roehampton residents. And hopefully with that problem tackled, the police can focus more on some of the other problems. That's why I'm backing an alcohol exclusion zone and why I hope the council - which has to set the zone up, and the police - who have to enforce it, will get behind my campaign.

Here's the letter I sent to the Council Chief Executive yesterday (click on the image for a larger version):