Councillor Cann declared a prejudicial other registerable interest in this item and left the meeting during the consideration thereof.

Council considered a report by the Place Manager (Town Centres) (circulated previously) regarding the Pannier Market Public Spaces Protection Order.

In response to questions, the Chief Executive advised that the Council was aware of the complaint that had been made by a member of the public which had been made in relation to an incident in the Pannier Market when its doors were left closed for too long on Christmas Eve.  He advised that this was a separate issue.

In response to questions, the Place Manager (Town Centres) advised the following:

·       Referred Council to Appendix E of the report which set out the rationale for the proposed changes to the closure times and detailed the 9 recent incidents that had occurred since August 2024.  This provided the evidence for the change in closure times as incidents had occurred early in the morning.

·       The permanent closure of the road through the Pannier Market was a very complicated process and had been considered previously and it could not be achieved.  Further discussions would need to take place with Devon County Council in relation to a permanent closure of the road and officers would investigate other legal avenues to achieve a potential permanent closure.

It was moved by Councillor Norman and seconded by Councillor Crabb that the recommendations in the report be adopted.

RESOLVED:

(a)  That North Devon Council makes a further Public Spaces Protection Order for a period of 3 years in relation to the Pannier Market, Barnstaple, as per the order attached at Appendix A;

(b)  That the outcomes of the Equality Impact Assessment as summarised in paragraph 6 of the report be noted.