POOLE Park's magic machine that whisks away unsightly goose guano from the grass has provoked a row over funding.

But a one-and-a-half hour service provision scrutiny committee was not enough time to clean up the issue and a second meeting is being planned.

In August the council and contractor Wrefords launched Amazon, a machine that lifts droppings from the grass and deposits them in a hopper.

But the decision to allocate £18,446 from the planning obligations fund to pay for the delivery of the service has resulted in a "call-in" of the decision to a meeting of the Borough of Poole's service provision scrutiny committee on Thursday.

Six Liberal Democrats have questioned the use of the planning obligation fund to pay for the service for two years, saying it should only be used for capital not revenue expenditure.

Cllr Graham Wilson, a signatory of the call-in said: "It isn't because we are against it or against spending some money on it. It should definitely improve the park."

He said money from developers was supposed to be used to provide additional facilities not maintain existing ones and developers could challenge this decision.

"It may jeopardise the planning obligations fund," he said.

The decision to use the fund was made by environment portfolio holder Cllr Don Collier. "The advice I was given was that it was an appropriate decision," he said. "It has certainly improved the park."

He said it was a complicated matter to do with the contract with Wreford Landscapes, which owns the £18,800 machine. "We have to bear the costs of their staff time for it," he said.

If it was deemed an inappropriate decision it would have to be funded from a different budget, he added.

First published: Sept 20