June Chair Letter: Dog dirt, an owl box & street parties

Dear Parishioners of Breighton & Bubwith

I hope this finds you all in good health and enjoying this sunny weather. It’s hard to believe we are already coming to the end of June!!!!

May was the month of celebration. A big thank you to the organisers of street parties and other events, the photos on social media said it all, brilliant! Whether it be cake baking and bonnet competitions, the opportunity to have some of the wonderful food from Mounfields, the Swan or the Jug and Bottle, or even sampling the delights of a battle re-enactment at Wressle Castle there was something for everyone and it was a great opportunity to mingle with family, neighbours and friends and enjoy the 4 day weekend.

Recent events include the arrival of the new owl box in the community orchard. Thanks to Malcolm Henson who built this delightful addition and also the other noble (but shy) gentleman who gave his time and expertise in erecting the telegraph pole and box. If you haven’t been down to visit the orchard I would encourage you to do so, the trees are now becoming well established and there are things being added all the time. For newcomers to the village, the orchard is next to the allotments just off Highfield Road.

Spaldington Windfarm Community Fund was allocated this month and Bubwith were successful with 3 bids. FOBs to create a green learning and sensory area at Bubwith Community School and the Parish Council for their Young and Old bid covering ongoing support for the Youth Club and the siting of a number of benches in the village and seats in the bus shelters (I’ll let you decide which bid you will benefit from). Putting these bids together takes time and effort, my thanks to Paula Clark and Steve Young for their hard work and success.

A quick plug for the youth club volunteers and thanks to the one person who has come forward as a volunteer so far, there’s plenty of space for more volunteers so if you have time on a Wednesday evening please do get in touch.

Our recent Parish Council got a bit energized when it came to the standing agenda item on ‘Dog Dirt’. In the past 8 years we have: provided free pooh bags in dispensers (people just took handfuls with no impact on the problem); regularly featured the problem in the news sheet and urged people to be considerate; had a school poster competition and erected posters around the village; had the East Riding Dog Warden involved with lessons in school teaching children about responsible dog ownership and monitoring within the village; had posters alerting people to the dangers of Toxocariasis (a parasite commonly found in dogs intestines and faeces) to children and urging people to clean up; I’ve personally walked the patch on several occasions spray painting dog pooh to highlight where it is; and more recently we’ve again erected signs urging people to be considerate and clean up. All to no avail, the problem persists.

Our energized discussion was what to do next given that all previous efforts have had minimal impact for any period of time. We are not alone and elsewhere in the country it’s suggested that a prosecution and fine may be the best deterrent. Should we become more draconian with covert CCTV cameras or funding the dog warden to try to catch people out? Should we (like some areas) introduce a DNA register for dogs to be able to detect who’s pooh it is?

Our final decision is simple, the problem belongs to everyone and Parish Councillors are volunteers with limited powers. Therefore, we are taking it off our agenda as a standing item and looking to our community to either be more considerate or to report any sightings to the local dog warden who does have powers to take action. Please contact

https://www.eastriding.gov.uk/environment/pests-dogs-and-animals/dog-control-and-ownership/

Finally, I look forward to meeting invited guests at our social event at 7pm on Friday 24th June at the leisure centre. The Parish Council look forward to hearing what you think we should be focusing on within the parish.

Best wishes

Sandra Hills

Chair of Bubwith Parish Council

If there are other matters unconnected to this report that you wish to raise please do get in touch. .

https://www.facebook.com/BubwithParishCouncil)