Friday, 4 April 2014

Leybourne Lakes Country Park


As a long time resident of the area, and regular (twice daily) user of this park, I'd like to congratulate you on the recent initiative to tackle dog fouling.

The signs are perfectly clear and unambiguous.

I am not quite so sure about the exhortation to "grass up" your fellow dog walker, as it's not quite the ticket and very un-English, but I suppose we are a multi-cultural society so it's probably a sign of the times.

As I have said, I use this facility to walk my dog, a black Cockerpoo should you be interested, twice a day, and always go armed with sturdy poo bags. Furthermore my dog is always on the lead when she should be.

So again, well done and thank you.

I would like to suggest the theme for your next two "campaigns". Litter being the first and cyclists being the second.

To the first. As a dog walker I can attest to the massive amount of litter strewn all over the park, mostly discarded sandwich boxes, yoghurt pots and so on. I am aware that the pupils of Holmesdale, who are basically biding their time between childhood and prison, use this park extensively. But come on, if you can fix dog fouling you can fix this surely. Of course written signs would probably not suffice as that assumes the little darlings can actually read! Perhaps some visits to the school or some pictorial guidance?

The second type of litter is much more troublesome and that is discarded bones from BBQ sessions. If the weekend is a nice one, a whole variety of people settle down with their portable BBQ and burn food, pretty much at the same rate that they are burning their shoulders and legs, eat their food and then lob the bones.

As a result I can pretty much guarantee that my dog will find, within a ten foot radius of each scorched oblong of turf, several bones. These are both unhygienic and very bad for poor doggie. It is legal to burn food in the park? If so it ought not to be as it is unsightly and must represent a fire hazard even in the most wet of English summers.

So have a heart and try and do something about the litter if you would.

To the second. The cyclists.

I know these people are a common nuisance all over Great Britain and none more so that the "Hitlers in a hurry" that hurtle around our park, angry as ever and with a complete disregard to fellow park users.

There are signs that say quite clearly "pedestrians have right of way", but it's quite possible that these lycra clad lunatics are so angry at the world, their red misted minds can't see the signs. Possibly you could make them bigger.

Don't get me wrong, not all cyclists terrorise other park users, normal people with normal clothes will always slow down, or maybe even stop to avoid walkers, and bless them even tinkle their bells for us (and that is not a euphemism!).

If you'd like me to "grass up" BBQ bone chuckers and general-purpose litterers, please let me know.


Regards


Peter Martin

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