Agenda item

Agenda item

Dog Control Public Spaces Protection Order

A report of the Head of Regulatory Services, enabling the Committee to be consulted on the review of the Public Spaces Protection Order for Charnwood Borough Council for dog control prior to the formal notification and consultation process, is attached.

Minutes:

A report of the Head of Regulatory Services, setting out details of  the review of the Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) for Charnwood Borough Council for dog control prior to the formal notification and consultation process commences, was submitted (item 8 on the agenda filed with these minutes).

  

The Enviro-Crime and Dog Control Manager assisted with consideration of the item and the following summarises comments and observations made by Members of the Committee present and responses to questions raised:

·         The Council has had a PSPO in place since January 2017.  PSPO’s run for a maximum of 3 years so the one that covers Charnwood Borough Council for dog control will need to be extended or varied by January 2020. 

 

·         There was a first stage consultation which ran from early March 2019 to 24th May 2019.  320 responses were received about the proposals for dog control in the Borough.  

 

·         The Power to make, vary or extend an order comes from the powers within the Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014.  The PSPO is a location based order which covers certain locations with various conditions to promote effective dog control. 

 

·         The Act also gives powers to local authorities to deal with individuals for a range of anti-social behaviour including dog control using Community Protection Notices.  These two powers mean that the Council can use location based controls where a breach must be witnessed or a control for an individual which can be tailored to the individual’s circumstances to deal with a full range of dog control issues. 

 

·         The main controls included in the 2017 PSPO will also be included in the PSPO for 2020.  Any additional locations or controls which are requested must pass the legal test and must be justified.

 

·         The legal test is: 

The local authority may make a Public Spaces Protection Order if satisfied on reasonable grounds that two conditions are met. The first condition is that: 

a)        activities carried out on or in a public place with in the authority’s area have had a detrimental effect on the quality of life of those in the locality, or:

b)         it is likely that activities will be carried out in a public place within that area will have such an effect. 

The second condition is that the effect, or likely effect of the activities: 

a)            Is likely to be, of a persistent or continuing nature;

 

b)            is or is likely to be, such as to make the activities unreasonable:

 

c)            justifies the restrictions imposed by the notice

  • A report will be submitted to Cabinet on 4th July where approval is sought to publish the notice of intention and the draft order. 
  • Following Cabinet and call in period, the Notice period is the next stage where the notice of intention is published so that comments, objections and suggestions can be made formally.  After the 28 day period the information is reviewed and a decision is made, to: 

a.    vary the order as drafted;

b.    Make minor amendments; or

c.    If there are major amendments – take a further report to Cabinet.

·         Some members reported that residents had raised concerns about dogs not being on a lead in Queens Park especially near the children’s play area.  At present there was no restriction for dogs to be on a lead as there had been no evidence to support such a restriction.  In order to change any conditions, there must be an evidence base so residents should report any incidents.  Reports of incidents can be given in web form, by contacting the cleaner greener team on cleaner.greener@charnwood.gov.uk  or via the Contact Centre on 01509 634564 or on the website on the page for reporting any dog related issues.  Type dog into the search function and all report forms are on the page.

 

·         The responses received did not indicate an overwhelming public aspiration to restrict or limit the number of dogs a person walks at any one time.

 

·         Protection of wildlife deemed very important and indeed where necessary dogs on a lead by direction will be imposed.  The condition can be enforced by a designated officer requesting a person to put their dog onto a lead.  If the person refuses or fails to keep their dog on a lead they can receive a fixed penalty notice.

 

·         Assistance and therapy dogs are exempted from the conditions in the PSPO and controlled instead through a licensed scheme.

 

·         The Police deal with dog on human incidents, and the Council deal with dog on animal reports or concerns.

 

·         There was discussion about commercial dog walking companies and dog training classes using public spaces.  Some Councils such as Bristol City Council had recently introduced a charging scheme for such companies using the public space.   It was suggested that officers investigate this further as a potential income stream.

 

·         It was felt that the current mechanisms in place for controls dogs were working. The difference between dogs on lead and dogs on lead by direction was explained to the committee and they were advised that there had been a decrease in incidents since the last Public Spaces Protection Order was implemented in 2017.

 

RESOLVED

 

That Cabinet be advised of the above-mentioned comments and observations, when it considers the report to be presented to Cabinet on 4th July 2019.

 

Reason

 

To perform the Committee’s function to be consulted on matters of policy and strategic direction which relate to or affect the Loughborough town area.

 

Supporting documents: