Council silent on plans to ban dogs off the lead
TOWN councillors have had their say in a consultation over plans to alter a string of rules that affect users of some of the town’s key public spaces.
At their recent full council meeting, members discussed a response to Derbyshire Dales District Council’s draft Public Space Protection Order, which enforces rules such as banning barbecues and dog fouling.
Among the proposed changes to the order, which expired last month, were plans to lift a ban on barbecues in the Recreation Ground, and to impose tough new rules on dogs being allowed to exercise off the lead.
During the six-week consultation, which ended on Monday, the public were asked to give their thoughts on several proposed changes to the order, which also included lifting the ban on dog-fouling in the district’s cemeteries and burial grounds.
This was among the more controversial suggestions, alongside an order to keep dogs on leads at all times in Fishpond Meadow where, for generations, leads have only been necessary if owners are asked to use them.
And while this has courted controversy in the News Telegraph’s letter page and on social media, Ashbourne Town councillors have not made any suggestions for the proposed Fishpond Meadow restriction to be removed from the draft.
Instead, when it came to dogs being kept on leads, the councillors focused only on an area of green space south of the town called the Brickyard Play Area, which was listed as an area for an outright ban on dogs entering.
Councillor Denise Brown argued that the public space, off Derby Road, was used regularly by walkers accessing a footpath, and that excluding dogs was not necessary.
She said: “There’s an exclusion on the Brickyard Play area to exclude dogs, and I disagree. Because on the play area, there’s a footpath there, people cut through with their dogs.
“The kids are a bigger problem in the play area than the dogs. I’ve never seen a dog running loose without a lead.
“So I think dogs should be on a lead, but I don’t think they should be excluded.”
In terms of cemeteries, the town council would like to see an order kept in place, rather than all orders – including dog fouling – being lifted. The council’s response asks that dogs must be kept on leads at all times. The consultation also asked whether a ban on alcohol should be lifted in the Brickyard Play Area, Highfield Road Play Area, Thorpe View Play Area and Bankcroft Play Area.
In response, the town council said it would want the ban to remain in place, as there have been posts on social media suggesting bottles and cans are often discarded in public areas.
And the town council also disagreed with the proposal to lift a ban on barbecues in the area’s parks because, they said, people have been spotted lighting barbecues and open fires.
Driving and parking on the recreation ground and other green spaces should also remain prohibited, says the town council, despite the fact there is no evidence to show it is happening. And clear signage warning of the order should be put in place.
In a report published ahead of the consultation, Derbyshire Dales District Council justified some of the changes in the draft consultation by pointing out that enforcement actions were rare, and that actually being able to enforce breaches of the order were proving very difficult due to dwindling resources.
Lifting a ban on dog-fouling in cemeteries, for example, was in response to a lack of reports of any problems, although placing a dogs-onleads restriction on Fishpond Meadow - the only district council-owned exercise area where dogs are allowed off the lead - was not justified with evidence of regular problems being reported.
Now the consultation has closed, council officers will compile the responses, including those from town councillors, and report them to councillors at a forthcoming meeting, at which details in the proposed new order can be change, likely in January.
There’s an exclusion on the Brickyard Play area to exclude dogs, and I disagree.
Cllr Denise Brown