From Mr. Trevor Carter:
To the Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Streets, Parks & Town Centres:
“Why have ADC stopped selling dog waste bags to Teversal Visitors Centre, Vets, Pet shops and other distributors, which is cost effective and replaced the facility with the provision of dispensers full of free bags at parks that leads to vandalism, scattering and wanton disposal of the contents and an additional costs to ADC?”
Minutes:
In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11, the following question had been submitted:-
From Mr. Trevor Carter:
To the Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Streets, Parks & Town
Centres:
“Why have ADC stopped selling dog waste bags to Teversal Visitors
Centre, Vets, Pet shops and other distributors, which is cost effective
and replaced the facility with the provision of dispensers full of free
bags at parks that leads to vandalism, scattering and wanton disposal
of the contents and an additional cost to ADC?”
The Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Streets, Parks & Town Centres duly responded to the question as follows:-
“Thank you Chairman, and thank you Mr. Carter for your question. Several years ago Labour scrapped the free dog poo bags that the Council used to distribute, and instead they introduced a charge to those bags. What we looked at was ways that we could improve this because it created a massive problem across the District. There was a massive increase in dog fouling incidents across the District putting an additional cost on the Authority.
So what we did, we went outside, we looked at what was available and we got the Tikspacs. We have introduced 25 free dog poo stands across the District. Some of the parks include Brierley Park, Kingsway Park, Sutton Lawn, and Titchfield Park in Hucknall. These are free at the point of access and all the bags are fully bio-degradable, they’re corn starch and I’m pleased to say that the units and bags provided at no cost to this Authority. We do undertake close monitoring of the Tikspac units in our parks and they are well used by members of the public.
Responsible dog owners always clean up after their dogs. The minority who don’t clean up, or won’t carry the means of cleaning up….sorry but they risk a fixed penalty notice. We do not intend to return to selling dog poo bags when there is a viable cost effective and readily accessible alternative.
What the Ashfield Independents have shown is that we can come up with common sense solutions to problems across our District. Labour scrapped free dog poo bags to save £15,000 a year. It ended up costing us over £40,000 a year in additional revenue cost to clean up the mess. This is why we introduced the Tikspac pack service and it is yet again, the Ashfield Independents who are showing common sense solutions and are cleaning up Labour’s mess and putting Ashfield residents first.”
The Chairman then gave Mr. Carter the opportunity to ask a supplementary question and he responded as follows:-
“Do the Council think it’s fair that in the light of what’s been said there, that I feel there’s a cost to this system that you’re now using? We always paid for our dog bags at Teversal, upon receipt, the silly thing was, I’m afraid, and it annoyed me, was that attached to it was a note saying “when you have used the dog bags or sold them, please pay for them”. Which to my way is silly.
It’s like going into Currys and buying a fridge and being told that when it’s come to the end of its life come back and pay for it. So to me it’s an increase in cost. How do you justify that? Or do you say there’s no increase in cost to the Council?”
The Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Streets, Parks & Town Centres again responded to the supplementary question as follows:-
“In response to your question sir, the Tikspac service is a totally sponsored service so it is absolutely free. There is no cost to this Authority whatsoever. The company that runs Tikspac, it’s all done through sponsorship and they come and replace the bags when the units empty. If there’s any vandalism or damage to the dispensers themselves, Tikspac, the company, come and replace it. It’s absolutely no cost to this Authority or to residents. Thank you Mr. Chairman.”