Park bye-laws consultation 2013

[Simon Randolph]

Parks by-laws consultation.

The Council is proposing to introduce numerous bye-laws to our parks to tackle anti-social behaviour.  The council is seeking your views on whether you have experience of anti-social behaviour in parks and what issues you think the bye-laws should cover (http://www.bristol.gov.uk/page/leisure-and-culture/parks-and-green-...).

[Chris Somerset]

UPDATE:

NEW BY LAWS for Bristol's parks being sought following the consultation exercise which concluded on 13th September 2013. http://goo.gl/R3fhE4

The Neighbourhoods and Communities Scrutiny Commission held on 10th December 2013 http://goo.gl/R2Iz5X will be making recommendations to Full Council in March 2014

Full Council will then submit the byelaws formally to Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) and the Secretary of State who makes the final decision.

FFI
Bristol’s Parks and Green Space Strategy 2008 http://goo.gl/1fr6FI
BCC web site page on Parks & Green Spaces Strategy: http://goo.gl/E3W32w
Further info on parks & green spaces By Laws: http://goo.gl/UnaXOm
By Laws FAQ: http://goo.gl/KGpxQW
DCLG Guidance on how By Laws are implemented: http://goo.gl/0e34xI

[Jo Corke]

Thanks Chris, for this full set of informative links which make very interesting reading.

Jo

[Claudia]

My son witnessed a horrid dog fight today in the park this afternoon, 2 pitbull type dogs had a fight and locked together one not letting go of the other, they had to be lifted up by their owners to separate them from each other without causing more serous damage as it was one was bleeding from a head wound, the owner of the dog that had attacked didn't apologise or seem to care about what had happened or the distress it had caused to both the other dog's owners and onlookers alike. Both dogs were off lead in the cafe area and as a dog owner myself used to the park in all seasons i have learnt to be wary of the park in terms of dog walking from the first spring sunshine until the autumn arrives.

The problem as i see it is seasonal dog owning tourists from other parts of town who come to join in what we have dubbed the 'summer festival of st andrews' and who don't supervise their dogs at all. Therefore i would have no problem at all with a summer midday ban on dogs in the park from say April-September 11am-6 pm or the less drastic rule of all dogs on leads within these hrs during these months, no responsible owner takes their dog out in the midday sun and lets them roam unsupervised,  but I would be interested in getting other friends of st andrews views on this before i give the council my thoughts. thanks C

[Jo Corke]

Claudia,
The law on dogs is here. https://www.gov.uk/control-dog-public/overview
You should phone the police about such incidents, because they can take action.
Extract from the link.
Out of control
Your dog is considered dangerously out of control if it:
injures someone
makes someone worried that it might injure them
A court could also decide that your dog is dangerously out of control if:
it injures someone’s animal
the owner of the animal thinks they could be injured if they tried to stop your dog attacking their animal
Jo