Residents could shape new barbecue rules for Southsea Common and Canoe Lake

Residents could have their say on whether the council should tighten rules on barbecues around Canoe Lake and Southsea Common.

Councillor Lee Hunt, the cabinet member for community safety, leisure and sport on Portsmouth City Council, is due to decide whether to launch a public consultation on barbecues along the seafront.

The council owns Southsea Common, Canoe Lake and other seafront open spaces, where concerns have been raised about the impact of barbecues.

A council report says the area around Canoe Lake “was at times densely populated” during the summer of 2025, but this did not “prevent the overall enjoyment of the space”.

However, it says barbecues can cause “grass damage, increased littering, unsafe disposal of hot coals and additional maintenance demands” for the council’s parks service.

The authority is therefore proposing a public consultation to “ascertain the public appetite” for tighter rules.

Cllr Hunt said Portsmouth is an inclusive city and stressed the importance of open spaces, particularly for residents without gardens.

However, he acknowledged concerns about barbecues, saying: “We will do our level best to meet everybody’s needs.”

He said the main issue is people burning the grass, “which really hacks people off”, as well as disturbance later in the evening.

One option is introducing a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO), a legal measure councils can use to tackle antisocial behaviour for up to three years.

Cllr Hunt said a PSPO could be more “nuanced” than an outright ban on barbecues, for example by requiring people to use raised barbecues rather than placing them directly on the grass.

He added a PSPO could also include other restrictions, such as “banning amplified music”, one of the measures proposed for Wimbledon Park and Waverley Gardens, where the council recently completed a public consultation.

The proposal follows controversy in April, when rubbish was left around Canoe Lake after a Sikh festival. The waste was left by visitors travelling into Portsmouth, not by the local Sikh community.

Following the incident, local litter picking group Protect our Parks Portsmouth launched a petition calling for a ban on barbecues around Canoe Lake. It has so far attracted 5,880 signatures.