NEW measures to clamp down on dog fouling will come into effect by March 2017, Holsworthy town councillors heard on Wednesday evening — but there are concerns over how they will be enforced.

Torridge District Council environment protection officer Pete Dryland spoke to councillors about the possibility of a dog order and the benefits it would have for reducing dog fouling in Holsworthy.

The main open leisure area, Stanhope Park, does not come under Torridge Council dog control measures as it is owned by the town council, but there are suggestions that a new dog order could be put in place to help control the situation there.

Mr Dryland said: “It is an offence to allow a dog off the lead and foul in certain areas but Stanhope Park is not an officially designated ‘play area’ where such things are restricted.”

Mayor Cllr John Allen asked who designates such an area.

Mr Dryland said it would originally be designated by Torridge District Council but it needed to be able to see the limitations.

“The new anti-social bill brought in will see existing dog orders superseded in three years’ time. This does give councils a sort of ‘three-year breathing space’ to be able to amend or add to any existing dog control orders but it is a mighty slow process to get things changed.”

He said that in order to set up new measures, consultations with the police and local residents would have to be held before March 2017. If nothing was changed by that date then any dog orders would automatically go to ‘public space orders’ and become even more difficult to alter or change.

Deputy mayor Cllr Jon Hutchings asked: “So what if a new play area is built in the town before March 2017, surely that will have to be added to the order?”

Mr Dryland said it would have to be added.

Town clerk Vanessa Saunders said: “Unfortunately Holsworthy missed out because Stanhope Park is not looked after by Torridge District Council. So if we want to create a new open space we will have to get it done by March 2017?”

Mr Dryland said this was the case.

Cllr Allen asked: “Do we need to get something into the by-laws we have for the park then?”

Mr Dryland said if a problem was identified by the town council, then he could be contacted and would come out to assess the situation.

Holsworthy Torridge District Cllr Ian Parker asked who would enforce any by-laws if the council decided to take that course of action.

Mr Dryland said it would be up to the town council to do so, but he warned that enforcing by-laws could be time consuming.

Cllr Lyndon Piper, chairman of the parks committee, said: “I think it would be useless to implement by-laws, as who would enforce them?”

Cllr Hutchings said: “Dog fouling is most prevalent at night and in the evening. So how do the general public go about reporting an incident, say, if they saw their neighbour out late at night or in the evening allowing their dog to run about and foul in one of our public areas?”

Mr Dryland said: “We advise that the public not get involved personally but report any incidents to us.

“A lot of people do want to give statements regarding these issues but many don’t want to be seen as causing trouble for neighbours. But if people want they are welcome to contact me directly.”

Mrs Saunders said there is a report form available on the Torridge District Council website if the public wanted anonymously to report a dog fouling incident.

There is a hope that in the near future there will be two new environmental protection officers, who will work alongside Mr Dryland, in order to increase their presence in the Torridge area and begin to tackle the problem of dog fouling.

Cllr Ian Parker asked Mr Dryland to verify whether changes could be made, to a dog order once it had been written up, past the March 2017 deadline.

Mr Dryland said: “If the order is started before the transition then yes is can be altered and ‘polished up’ after the March date.”

The town clerk said she would liaise with Mr Dryland further about the idea and that the next step for the council would be to create the new dog order prior to March 2017.