Letter to Llandudno businesses Temporary Superintendent Steve Williams has written to Llandudno councillors and businesses to make sure that they hear first-hand of the plans in place should a potential planned event by the North Wales Alliance Gogledd Cymru take place in the town in August. This is the main body of the letter: We are aware of and preparing for a potential planned event by the North Wales Alliance Gogledd Cymru (NWAGC). We are also aware that a group known as Unite the Union intend to hold a counter demonstration in Llandudno on the same day. Both groups state their intention is to undertake a peaceful protest. It remains unclear how many will attend either demonstration. Facebook pages for each organisation indicate around 100 supporters have stated an intention to attend on the day. Clearly we are monitoring the situation and will continue to do so. European Human Rights law, enshrine an individual’s right to carry out peaceful protest. Indeed for the police, national guidance developed through good practice and case law now directs that our starting point should always be the presumption in favour of facilitating peaceful assembly and not preventing it from taking place. Article 11 ECHR places a duty on the police not to prevent, hinder or apply unreasonable restrictions to a peaceful assembly. In addition we must take reasonable and appropriate measures to protect a peaceful protest. An order to ban any march can only be authorised by the Home Secretary. Such an order would only be authorised if there was evidence that the powers available to the police to place restrictions on a march were insufficient to prevent serious public disorder. I should add that although circumstances exist where it is possible to seek the Home Secretary’s agreement to ban a public procession no such power exists in relation to banning a public assembly. The Public Order Act 1988 provides the necessary powers to place restrictions on both marches and public assemblies under certain conditions. These restrictions must be proportionate, legitimate and necessary and must also stand scrutiny when held up against both UK legislation and European Human Rights Law. Again the use of these powers remains under constant review. Despite assurances from NWAGC and Unite the Union that they intend to hold a peaceful demonstration it is recognised that there remains a risk of disorder. Given this risk and the uncertainty regarding numbers taking part on the day a significant policing operation is being planned. The primary purpose of that operation is to facilitate lawful and peaceful protest however the resourcing of the event will ensure appropriate contingency measures are in place to minimise the risk of serious disorder and minimise the disruption to the local community. Recent media reports have suggested that the police have advised local businesses to close. This is not the case. No business has been advised to close. Local officers will continue to work closely with local community representatives. We have a good relationship with people in the communities that we serve and we will talk to them about any concerns they might have and reassure them that public safety is our priority. In summary, North Wales Police continues to be in dialogue with the two groups as we seek to discharge our legal obligations to facilitate peaceful protest. Together with our partners we will keep the situation under constant review to ensure the safety of the public, including the use of any specific police powers, is appropriate, proportionate and lawful. We will continue to share this information with you as a representative and key stakeholder within the community. I trust this response addresses the concerns you may have and I would ask that if you hold any information that you wish to share our preferred contact would be [email protected] or the Force Control Room on 101. We are particularly keen to hear from the Licenced premises that have had approaches from the various groups or advanced bookings of any function rooms and bookings that may be linked with this event.
Posted on: Mon, 15 Jul 2013 09:16:01 +0000