Dog Bins.....!!

"Natural England', the quango in charge of so much of our countryside, seems to dislike conveniently sited Dog Bins for the disposal of dog faeces, apparently if there are no dog bins the owners of dogs will go elsewhere. Therefore, it appears that access to the Talbot Heath from the new development may not feature any dog bins. This might seem staggeringly naive and stupid from an organisation that is usually regarded as foremost authority on all things natural, but its not the only thing that they have got wrong in the last 10 years.............More on their other daft ideas and notions later.

The Conservation Area to the North of Wallisdown Road is extremely popular with dog walkers but dog bins are scarcer than hens teeth and with one exception are poorly located. There used to be a bin at the foot of the woods below St Marks School on the corner of the playing fields. For some reason it was moved last year to behind the goal on the middle football pitch by the high chainlink fence. This resulted in an explosion of dog droppings on the gravel footpath running alongside the graveyard and the top horse paddock. On a Sunday morning when games are being played it can be quite irksome to walk behind 2 goalmouths with a dog to deposit a bag of poo so most people dont bother.

The footpath from Alton Road is one of the main pedestrian access points to the Woods and most dog owners will be familiar with a dogs natural inclination to do its business within minutes of being released. It might make sense to place bins to reflect this fact.

Of course some dog owners will never clean up after their dogs no matter how conveniently bins are placed. Others will feel they are doing the right thing by bagging up the mess and then hanging it from a tree!

Yet another bag of poo in a tree

Placing bins in a helpful position is a great leap forward to those of us who do like to behave in a responsible fashion. Offering free poo bags is simply excellent - the National Trust seems able to do it without going bancrupt - perhaps our local Councils should give it a try?

Its more likely unfortunately, that they will simply follow Natural England's thinking and remove them all completely.