Sheffield's worst dog fouling blackspots revealed as new crackdown starts and fines issued
Council explains where first patrols under new crackdown have been directed
The Star today reveals the worst blackspots for dog fouling in Sheffield - and experts believe figures do not fully represent the scale of the problem.
The figures, unearthed follow a Freedom of Information request, come at a time when Sheffield Council has just launched a major campaign in the battle with dog owners who fail to clean after their pets, with the first of a new type of patrols hitting the streets.
We discovered that last year Sheffield Council received 105 complaints in relation to dog fouling at named locations.
Nine of those emerged as the worst blackspots with two reports for each location.
The locations with two reports each were Carfield Avenue, Heeley; City Road, Sheffield; Fort Hill Road, Wincobank; Limb Lane, Dore; Longley Hall Road, Longley; Mount Street, Highfield; Olive Grove Road, near Lowfield; Spring Close View, Gleadless Valley and Stanwell Close, Wincobank.
But Sheffield Council is now turning up the heat on dog owners, and bosses have confirmed the first fines have been issued following a new wave of dedicated patrols.
The new patrols have been set up as a joint project with Doncaster Council, which has been running a similar scheme for some time, and a business called Waste Investigations Support and Enforcement Ltd, or WISE.
Richard Eyre, Sheffield Council's Director of Street Scene said the scheme was being trialled, and had already started, with the first patrols having initially looked at areas near the centre of the city.
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He said: “We've currently got four officers around the city, and they're equipped to go out and give fixed penalty notices.
“So anybody whose dog has fouled the pavement and they don't attempt to pick it up could get a FPN, a fixed penalty notice. And anybody dropping litter, who doesn't pick it up, could get a fixed penalty notice if they're observed by one of these officers.
“They've been in a couple of weeks. It's taken a long time to get the the legal agreements in place, but they've been operational a couple of weeks. They've done some key city centre sites just to familiarize themselves with Sheffield, and when they've now started going into our community areas as well.
“We know there are certain communities where residents, councillors, are asking for litter enforcement. And that's where they'll be going to start to do that and they'll be going more over the next few months.”
He said dog fouling and littering without picking it up were offences. He said wardens would approach culprits and issue fixed penalty notices.
The fines will run at £50 for failing to pick up after your dog, and £100 for littering.
Mr Eyre said he expected there would be a rise in the number of fines issued in the city as a result of the new scheme.
He said: “We as a city have not had any litter enforcement teams. We've had fly tipping enforcement, environmental enforcement teams. We've not had any specific officers doing litter enforcement for a good probably seven or eight months. The previous ones were agency staff, but that that that contract came to an end.
“So we've done this innovative agreement with Doncaster and WISE because it builds a resilience. We're working with a an existing council and their framework.”
His message to those who get fined for their dog is: “If you carried a poo bag and picked that up afterwards, we wouldn't have lots of issues across our communities. Not just city centre, but across our communities, we've got rife dog fouling.
“If you choose not to do that, then my view is it's a criminal offence and you deserve to get a fixed penalty notice.”
He confirmed that the patrols would also look at the cemeteries.
“We can as long as it's city council cemetery, it's not a private cemetery. So we can start to look at that,” he said.
”We're getting lots of requests for the enforcement team to go into parks, into our public spaces. And we know particularly from dog fouling, parks and our public realm areas across the city are chosen places for people to walk their dogs and rightly so.
“All we're asking is be a responsible dog owner. It’s your dog, take some poo bags. If your dog defecates on the footpath, park, green or whatever, would you really want your child playing football on that and running through that? So please pick it up. And we will be sending enforcement officers across those areas.
A dog owner himself, he said he has seen people failing to pick up after their pets, even near primary schools.
“I think it's much bigger than actually reported, and we want to listen to communities. We will target certain areas.”
He expects some notices may get challenged and said there was a legal process for that.
He added: “If you do find there's a particular hotspot you’re really angry about or you want something done about, please let us know. There's great ways to contact us via Fix My Street or or or via the council direct. We want to know these areas and that's where the teams will be going, where the demand is.”