Consultation for amendments to the dog fouling, exclusion and dog control Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) 2020

The vast majority of dog owners act responsibly, keeping their dogs under control and clearing up their dog’s waste. However, the council continues to receive complaints about dog-related negative behaviour and irresponsible dog owners.

In response to this, we introduced a new dog Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) for dog fouling, exclusion and dog control in 2017, running for three years. In October 2020 we extended the PSPO for another three years, until October 2023.

Full details of the PSPO can be found here.

The order has helped protect the diversity of bird populations and wildlife at Pegwell Bay upper chalk shore, mudflats and saltmarsh. The order has also protected the quality of public health and welfare through enforcement which has been helping promote cleaner beaches, parks, churchyards and fenced playgrounds as well as supporting the control of the following:

• Dog Fouling
• Dog Control Wildlife
• Protection Environmental Health and Well-being
• Animal Welfare

A map showing where there are restrictions in place can be found here.

Amendments to the PSPO

We are now consulting on some minor amendments to the PSPO, to protect people’s enjoyment of the district’s beaches and wildlife. The proposed amendments are:

• 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 and protect people’s enjoyment of the beach. View a map of Westbrook Bay here
• 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. View a map of Pegwell Bay here
• 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.

Having your say

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

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