Due to increased complaints from residents, Burnham-on-Sea and Highbridge Town Councils latest campaign to tackle the ever-present issue of dog fouling has been underway with volunteers carrying out surveys in dog fouling hotspot’s within the towns.
They have been marking any dog faeces with chalk paint to highlight the worst-affected areas in the towns and the Town Rangers have placed the don’t poop and run stencils within these areas. There will be “We’re watching you! “posters placed in the worst affected areas to try and discourage owners leaving mess behind.
The surveys were carried out over 5 days, the results of the surveys are:
| Area | Total of unbagged | Total bagged |
| Along the Esplanade ,B-O-S to Quays Drive, Highbridge | 92 | 4 |
| Jubilee Street – Technical Street, B-O-S | 16 | 0 |
| Westfield Cemetery alley | 14 | 0 |
| Ashley Avenue – Sutherland Avenue alley, B-O-S | 15 | 0 |
| Market Street, Highbridge | 10 | 0 |
| Tyler Way, Highbridge | 19 | 0 |
| Newtown Road, Highbridge | 8 | 1 |
The results of the surveys have shown that there are repeat offenders. The feedback received was that incidents of dog fouling tended to be worse at night time or in areas that are not overlooked, such as alleyways. There was a feeling that this could be because some dog owners act irresponsibly when they think they aren’t being watched.
There will be a number of posters displaying a watching eye image at the dog fouling hotspots to try and combat the issue. The posters have a luminescent film that glows in the dark.
What bin for dog poo?
Many people are unaware that you do not need to use a dog poo bin to dispose of your dog poo bags, it is fine to use any of the normal black litter bins within the towns.
Special thanks go to the volunteers Rob Croot, Stella Newman, the Mayor Lesley Millard and David Newman.
This campaign will run every quarter, to register as a volunteer or tell us about an area which has a particular problem please email: info@burnham-highbridge-tc.gov.uk‘