Hawarden Community Council launches new approach to tackle dog fouling

Hawarden Community Council has launched a community dispenser scheme across Aston, Ewloe, Hawarden and Mancot in a bid to reduce the amount of dog waste left in community areas.  

As part of the scheme, dog waste bag dispensers have been attached to lampposts in areas of heavy dog fouling, providing free bags to encourage people to pick up after their dogs. 

The proposal was put forward by Hawarden and Mancot councillor, Sam Swash, who said: “One of the issues that continue to blight our community is excessive dog fouling. By making dispenser bags easily accessible in hotspot areas, we hope to give people every possible opportunity to clean up after their pets.” 

Flintshire County Council currently implements a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) which gives it the power to issue a fixed penalty notice of £75 to anyone found guilty of breaching the order. It includes measures such as excluding dogs from children’s play areas, requires dogs to be kept on leads in certain places, and requires dog owners to remove dog waste.  

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The council is currently seeking to extend the PSPO for a further three years once the existing order expires in October. 

Cllr Swash added: “It is important that councils aren’t just giving up on dealing with the problems caused by dog fouling. This project shows that in Hawarden, we are willing to implement innovative solutions to try and tackle the problem.” 

Hawarden Community Council intends to measure the success of the scheme over the next six months before deciding whether to expand it by providing more dispensers across the local community.