Councillor Dave Murphy and local resident Ziggy
At Wednesday’s Council meeting (22 October), Cllr Dave Murphy, Shadow Cabinet member for Housing, Transport and Planning will be proposing a motion asking the Overview and Scrutiny Board to carry out an enquiry to ensure that Oldham Council is following best practice in to tackling dog fouling.
Cllr Murphy said “Let me be clear this is not an attack on those responsible dog owners who pick up after their dogs – it is about looking for solutions to prevent it happening full-stop!”
He added “I am regularly contacted by residents expressing concerns over dog fouling; it has got to be in the top five of anti-social behaviour. I want to be able to tell them that Oldham Council is doing all it can to combat this horrible menace and this motion is just part of that step”.
Councillor Val Sedgwick who is seconding the motion said “the problem of dog fouling is not ward specific – it is borough wide. Owners who do not pick up after their pets give all dog owners and pets a bad name”.
The motion also calls for the Council to look at recent research, current practices in our and other local authorities together with the powers granted to it in recent legislation and then present a report on this matter to a future Council meeting at the earliest opportunity.
Council 22nd Oct. 2014 – Notice of Opposition Business – Motion 2
Dog Fouling and Nuisance
This Council notes:
· That the vast majority of dog owners are responsible and law-abiding individuals; however a small number of irresponsible pet owners continue to fail to remove faeces deposited by their dogs or to keep their dogs under proper control in public places
· There are legal requirements placed upon owners to clean up after their dogs in public places, to keep control of their pets, and to ensure their animal displays a dog collar with the name and address of the owner
· In 2010, this Council introduced three Dog Control Orders to
– exclude dogs from designated children’s play areas
– require a dog to be kept on a lead in designated cemeteries
– restrict the number of dogs that can be kept under control by any one individual to four
This Council further notes that:
· Calderdale and Tameside Councils have introduced additional Dog Control Orders, which:
– exclude dogs from other public areas (such as tennis courts, bowling greens, skate parks, and a limited number of designated sports pitches)
– require a dog to be kept on a lead in other designated areas (such as on roads, around unfenced children’s play areas, on school grounds, and in public car parks, allotments and religious grounds)
· Local authorities can use recent legislation to combat dog fouling and nuisance:
– The 2005 Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act) permits local authorities to establish its own fixed penalties for dog fouling offences and that the level of such penalties can act as a deterrent
– The Sustainable Communities Act 2007 permits Councils to ask Government for permission to assume new responsibilities and powers within its boundaries, for example to establish a local dog registration scheme
– The Localism Act 2011 grants the ‘general power of competence’ to local authorities in England to do ‘anything that individuals generally may do’.
– The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 permits councils to impose Public Spaces Protection Orders to ban or regulate any activity in public spaces which is believed to have a ‘detrimental effect on the quality of life of those in the locality’.
This Council wishing to more effectively prevent dog fouling and nuisance in this borough resolves to ask the Overview and Scrutiny Board to:
– Carry out an inquiry to ensure this Council is following best practice, taking account of recent research, current practice in our own and other local authorities, and the powers granted to it in recent legislation
– Present a report on this matter to a future Council meeting at the earliest opportunity
