On 8 December 2015 Full Council granted approval to initiate a formal consultation process on the creation of a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) relating to dog control. This is in accordance with the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.
The purpose of the PSPO is to provide the Council with an effective enforcement tool to target irresponsible dog owners who persistently fail to remove and suitably dispose of dog faeces, including those who allow their dogs to wander unaccompanied. Under the PSPO, the Council would have the ability to issue a fixed penalty notice on the offending dog owner with a fine of £100. The implementation of a PSPO would not penalise responsible dog owners.
A working group was convened on 13 January 2016 which consisted of a selection of stakeholders including representatives from the Duchy of Cornwall, Wildlife Trust, Police, St Mary’s Boatmen’s Association, Islands’ Partnership and the Five Islands School as well as Council Members and Officers. The aim of the group is to draft a PSPO which will be submitted for public consultation by this summer (2016). This group strongly encourages all sections of the community to actively participate in the consultation process so that a PSPO can be created to the benefit of all residents and visitors on the Isles of Scilly.
The final version of the PSPO could provide the powers to enforce in the following areas:
- Failing to remove and suitably dispose of dog faeces.
- Exclude dogs from designated areas.
- Require dogs to be kept on leads.
- Not putting and keeping a dog on a lead when directed to do so by an authorised officer.
- Restrict the number of dogs that can be walked by one person at any one time.
David Currie, the Council’s Environmental Health Officer, said, ‘the implementation of a PSPO to tackle irresponsible dog ownership is essential to protect the health of our community and to maintain the cleanliness of our streets and public spaces. At present, the council’s dog warden has the unsavoury task of removing and suitably disposing of dog faeces which irresponsible owners are failing to do. I am in full support of the implementation of a PSPO to tackle this problem. I also request community support and encourage our community to report sightings of any dog owners failing to remove and suitably dispose of their dog’s faeces. Community participation is paramount for this new initiative to be successful and it will help to ensure that the entire community and our visitors can enjoy our unspoiled landscape on the Isles of Scilly’.
We remind all dog owners to ensure that they are disposing of dog faeces responsibly. This means bagging the waste and disposing of it in a dedicated dog waste bin or any general waste bin. The dog warden conducts regular patrols on the islands, but if you would like to report problem areas you can do so by calling us on 01720 424317 or email environmentalhealth@scilly.gov.uk.