ABC: council seeks to harmonise by-laws on use of e-scooters and other motorised vehicles in public parks
A notice of motion, seeking to harmonise by-laws governing the use of e-scooters and other motorised vehicles in public parks in all parts of the borough, was adopted at Monday night’s (April 28) ABC Council meeting.
The notice of motion was tabled by Councillor Kate Evans (UUP, Craigavon DEA).
Cllr Joy Ferguson (Alliance, Banbridge DEA) wanted to widen the scope of the notice of motion to harmonise rules governing public speaking involving the use of amplification devices, however that particular matter will be debated separately at a later date.
Cllr Evans’ original text read as follows: “That this council recognises the importance of council by-laws and is conscious of the failure to revise and harmonise the existing by-laws from legacy councils, into one unified set of by-laws, following the establishment of the ‘super council’ 10 years ago.
“That this council recognises working with separate by-laws is unsustainable, and requests that the relevant departments undertake a review of all existing by-laws, and propose a comprehensive revision to harmonise them into a single, unified set of by-laws for the entire Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon (ABC) Borough Council, to include new by-laws for the use of e-scooters, bikes, scramblers, quads within council-owned parks and open spaces.”
When presenting her notice of motion, the UUP representative explained that the lack of by-laws covering the entire borough was a major health and safety issue: “Whilst the use of motorised vehicles such as e- scooters, scramblers, quads, buzz boards and mini-motos as a leisure activity can be both exciting and fun, the use of these vehicles can in some circumstances be dangerous as they reach speeds of up to 15mph.
“After receiving a few complaints about e-scooters being used in our parks, and witnessing a number of incidents myself, I queried the rules regarding these being used within our parks.
“The current speed for the likes of Gosford is 5mph, and that’s for a fully-licensed vehicle. These scooters can reach up to 15mph.
“The current law states e-scooters, scramblers go-peds, buzz boards, quads and mini-motos (…) are restricted to off-road use, which is why they’re being used in our parks, beside our dog walkers, our disabled, our children, and those trying to use their bikes.
Ongoing Issue
“None of our by-laws include the likes of e-scooters. Upon querying further, we have three separate sets of by-laws in regards to our parks, and these were never harmonised, which appears to be an ongoing issue in this council.
“Having only met with officers today to discuss this, I chose not to pull this motion, but instead request that if changing the by-laws is seen as an unnecessary measure legally, that we therefore bring forward through committee pleasure grounds rules and regulations, in which we as a council can address these issues in the immediate future.”
Seconding her party colleague’s notice of motion, Cllr Julie Flaherty (UUP, Portadown DEA) stated: “This is something we’ve discussed for quite a long time in different forums, in different committees over many years.
“Council by-laws play a critical role in the governance of our local communities, they serve as legally enforceable rules designed to address very specific local issues, whilst complementing regional and national legislation.
“ABC Council was formed through a merger of three legacy councils, and it is imperative that these by-laws are up to date, relevant and consistent across the entire borough.
“Therefore I’m more than happy to second my colleague’s motion, and hopefully we can move forward and initiate some sort of a review process into these rules and regulations, to keep the residents of our borough safe.”
Cllr Joy Ferguson (Alliance, Banbridge DEA) was keen to widen the scope of the original text. She commented: “We would like to add an amendment to the motion, so that an additional exploration of a by-law is included.
“Our amendment is that this council also agrees to investigate the introduction of by-laws regarding the use of amplification devices in town centres, while protecting freedom of expression and freedom of religion.
“This is an exploration of the law, and I just want to call out the difference here. This is about noise.”
Cllr Ferguson was interrupted at that stage by Alderman Mark Baxter who raised a point of order, as he was concerned that due process was not being properly adhered to, since the amendment would have significantly changed the nature of the original motion.
The live video feed was then interrupted, so that the legalities raised by Ald Baxter could be looked into. When it was restored, the Alliance representative stated: “Since we last spoke, we’ve had a number of discussions and we’ve agreed to withdraw the amendment that we were going to propose for the motion, but what we would like to see is a report on noise levels and the noise nuisance legislation, and council’s role on enforcement in town centres.
“A report is to be brought back to the relevant committee to inform members of that information. This request is solely based on creating a harmonious and inclusive environment to shop and to do business, and for our people to live.”
Cllr Ferguson’s proposal to have noise issues and the relevant legislation investigated, was seconded by Cllr Peter Lavery (Alliance, Lurgan DEA).
Alderman Glenn Barr suggested a new amendment, with more of a focus on by-laws in council-owned parks.
The UUP representative for Banbridge DEA commented: “I’m going to make an amendment here, to remove the last paragraph and insert ‘that this council recognises working with separate by-laws is unsustainable, and requests that the relevant departments undertake a review of the free parks’ by-laws, with a view to bringing forward pleasure grounds rules and regulations’.”
The proposed amendment was seconded by Deputy Lord Mayor, Cllr Kyle Savage (UUP, Lagan River DEA), with no one opposing it.
François Vincent, Local Democracy Reporter