Dog Controls
Proposed Dog Controls
Seaham Town Council was asked some time ago to submit views on what dog controls should apply within the town under any new Dog Control Order which was to be introduced. After detailed consideration the Town Council put forward the following proposals:
That the dog prohibition areas should cover all children’s play areas, cricket fields, football fields, bowling greens but not woodland areas.
There should be no controls on the number of dogs a person can walk at any one time as it is considered this has not proved to be a problem in Seaham up to the present time.
There should be a ban on all dogs using the section of beach running South from the steps at Seaham Hall car park to Featherbed Rock during the bathing season. The rationale behind the Town Council’s suggestion is that this is the well used family section of beach and that all dogs should be banned from this location during the bathing season.
Dogs should be allowed in the section of beach running North from the steps at Seaham Hall car park to the town boundary with the City of Sunderland. However, it should be an additional condition that dogs should be kept on a leash from the top of the Seaham Hall car park steps right down to the bottom of the steps and then for 100 metres to the North so as to provide a transitional area until the dogs can be left off their leads as the owner begins to walk northwards towards the Sunderland boundary.
The section of beach running South from the South wall of the Port right down to Seaham’s boundary with Hawthorn should not be the subject of any controls.
The no fouling area covered by the poop-scoop bye-laws should be extended to include (as additional to the areas previously covered) the further areas within Seaham as shown on the plans provided by the former Easington District Council. These additional areas now essentially extend to all areas covered by the 40 mph sign.
It is emphasised that these views were merely proposals which were submitted for consideration. Durham County Council consulted on this in 2009 when the new dog control order was implemented and it is now considered that although Seaham will continue to campaign for better dog controls on its beaches and other public land it was not considered to be part of an annual target. If any resident wishes to express views on dog controls in Seaham they should write to Keith Parkinson, Environmental Health and Licensing Manager at the Easington Area Office of Durham County Council, or e-mail Keith.Parkinson@durham.gov.uk
