Dog free zones to tackle poo problem in Ashfield

Councillor Lee Anderson has called for the bans in areas frequented by children, claiming a fixed penalty fine for dog fouling is not working.

Coun Anderson said: “I am putting a motion forward at the next full meeting of Ashfield District Council to have dog free areas in parks and public areas where people congregate .

“So as an initial step the motion I have put into full council is to make all of our football pitches and sports pitches dog free, hopefully this will be trialled on our football pitch in Brierley first.

“This is not an attack on responsible dog owners and the response I have had so far by private message and by the online poll has been massively in favour.”

Mansfield District Council is already implementing such a scheme in Berry Hill Park.

“It would be specific areas where families go,” said Coun Anderson, “and I would ban dogs from football pitches completely.

“I know that 95 per cent of dog owners are responsible people and they pick the dog mess up.

“It is the just a few who are responsible as is usually the case.

“There is nothing worse than young people getting covered in dog mess.”

Coun Anderson put in a Freedonm of Information request that showed, since the policy of fining dog owners who did not have a bag was introduced. only a handful of people have been fined.

“As a PCSO, it’s much easier to see a dog and owner on a sports pitch and ask them to leave than actually be camped out for hours trying to catch an offender.”