Weymouth has bigger concerns than dog laws (From Dorset Echo)

Weymouth has bigger concerns than dog laws

9:30am Wednesday 10th March 2010 in

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I REFER to the recent article ‘Barking Mad’ (Echo, March 2) – most may assume it refers to the mood of dog walkers but it is also a description of our council.

While I understand they are concerned with fouling and the welfare of visitors and local children enjoying the parks, they should be more concerned about the vomit, broken glass and articles of clothing found in the Nothe Gardens.

Even more concern should be taken over the circles of suspicious white powder in the Nothe and some streets around the Bincleaves Park area upon which a secondary covering of sawdust has been placed.

Are we to believe that these things are safe for children or desirable for holidaymakers?

Council money would be better spent enforcing the dog fouling laws that apply already.

As a dog walker and cyclist, I think our council should look to the cyclists who speed down the Rodwell trail. Some of them think it’s stupid to use a bell to warn walkers, children or dog owners of their speed.

Why do the council think that a dog off the lead is less hazardous on the Rodwell Trail than in the Nothe Gardens when this traffic of speeding bikes is a big issue and an accident waiting to happen?

Unfortunately, it will not become relevant until there is an incident concerning the death of a dog, an injured child or a badly injured cyclist. Then the council may rightly worry about their possible culpability by having instigated these bylaws and using them in the wrong places for the wrong reasons.

In the next few years Olympic competitors will be adding to the bike traffic on the Rodwell Trail so let’s hope common sense kicks in soon.

CLARE SMITH, Rodwell Road, Weymouth