Dog fouling to be targeted in Hawkshead (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Dog fouling to be targeted in Hawkshead

11:56am Monday 6th September 2010 in

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Hawkshead residents have used a new police initiative to inform officers of their local problems.

Two months after police launched ballot boxes in key locations across the Lakes to get residents to vote on their policing priorities, Hawkshead locals have highlighted dog fouling as their main concern.

After voting papers were collected and the issue was discussed at local parish council meetings, the community decided that targeting irresponsible dog owners will be the number one priority for the police in Hawkshead.

As a result, dedicated patrols will be carried out by PCSOs and South Lakeland District Council’s Environment officers who will be on the look out for dog owners who let their pets foul in public places and will be handing out £75 fines. Officers on patrol will also be handing out SLDC bags to dog walkers to encourage everyone to pick up after their dogs and bins will be moved to particularly problematic areas.

PCSO Kayleigh Largue said: “There are lots of posters and stickers in and around the area to discourage this offence but it is still a problem.

“It is only a small percentage of people that let the area down but it is a major concern to the community. If everybody acted responsibly and cleaned up after their dogs it would make a huge difference to local people and make the area an even nicer place to be.

“We are pleased that the community seem to be embracing our new ballot box initiative and they will be able to follow our progress at future parish council meetings, on the Cumbria police website and on community posters so that they remain confident that a positive difference is being made.

“We want to hear from each and every member of our community about what most affects their quality of life and want it to be as easy and convenient as possible for people to let us know what their top policing priorities are.

“I’d encourage everybody to take a moment to fill in a voting paper, attend a local parish meeting or speak to a local officer to let us know how we can make a positive difference to the community.”

The ‘ballot boxes’ are situated at: Windermere Police Station, Windermere Library, Bowness Post Office, Ambleside Police Station, Ambleside Library, Grasmere Post Office, Langdale Co-op, Coniston Library, Hawkshead Post Office