Have Your Say on proposed changes to Dog Control Public Space Protection Order 

Dog Public Spaces Protection Order 2020 amendments

In October 2020, Thanet District Council took the decision to extend its existing Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) for dog fouling, exclusion and dog control.The continuation of the PSPO, until 2023, will help with our ongoing efforts against those who fail to respect our district and environment.

The original PSPO was adopted on 25 October 2017 and has had a positive impact. It has helped prevent detrimental effects on the quality of our water, the cleanliness of our blue flag beaches and helped to protect our coastline, cemeteries and playgrounds. The order has also helped protect the diversity of bird populations and wildlife at Pegwell Bay upper chalk shore, mudflats and saltmarsh. 

We are now consulting on some minor amendments to the PSPO, which will help us to further improve the coastline for residents, visitors and the wildlife.

The proposed amendments are: 

A. Westbrook Bay – Currently dogs must be kept on a lead. We are suggesting  amending the PSPO to not allow dogs on the beach between 10am and 6pm 1 May to 30 September – to help maintain the Blue Flag Award status.

B. Pegwell Bay – We are suggesting amending the PSPO to cover the upper chalk shore to protect people’s enjoyment of the internationally important nature reserve.

C. We are suggesting banning the following activities to help protect people’s enjoyment of wildlife:
– Humans and dogs will be banned from interfering with, trapping or attempting to trap, snare or disturb any wildlife on council owned land.

If you would like to have your say on these changes, please complete the feedback form which can be found at thanet.gov.uk/consultation or email any comments to Streetscene.Enforcement@thanet.gov.uk

The consultation will be running from Monday 23 November 2020 to Tuesday 22 December 2020.

Cllr Steve Albon, Cabinet Member for Operational Services at Thanet District Council said:
“The use of PSPOs throughout the district enables us to protect our coastline and wildlife whilst ensuring that it can still be enjoyed by residents and visitors. It’s about creating a balance between dog owners and those who don’t have a dog to ensure that everyone can enjoy our public spaces. Our aim is to prevent the small number of irresponsible dog owners from allowing their pets to foul, stray and be out of control – thereby keeping everyone safe.

“I hope that people will take the time to provide comments on these proposed changes, which include adding some seasonal dog exclusion areas, as we look to address specific issues highlighted through our ongoing work with partners.”

More information on the PSPO can be found at thanet.gov.uk/dog-public-space-protection-order-pspo If you require any assistance in completing this from or need a hard copy version, please call 01843 577000 or email Streetscene.Enforcement@thanet.gov.uk

The results of the consultation will be presented to Cabinet for a final decision to be made in January 2021.