Agenda item

Dogs

A member of the Group noted that dogs in the Park were required to be kept on leads, and that this had been the case for 15 years. She added that when this rule was first instituted it had been enforced by staff using whistles. However, she voiced her impression that the number of dogs off leads had increased significantly and that the rule was no longer enforced as well as it had been, and that this needed to change. She acknowledged that the Park Manager had put signs up to raise awareness.

The Park Manager noted that both he and staff still carried whistles and that these remained useful tools for enforcement. He added that the past 15 years had seen a reduction in staff resources within the Park and that this had implications for the level of staff presence and enforcement that was possible. He noted that staff were regularly reminded of their enforcement duties at staff meetings. He added that the Park Supervisor maintained a log of staff enforcement incidents and that in 2013 there had been 854 dog-related incidents and 1013 cycling incidents. The dogs figure represented an increase from 488 reported in 2012, and so there had clearly been an increase in the issue within the Park. He concluded that anti-social behaviour was a local police priority and so police regularly entered the Park to ensure dogs were not dangerous.

In response to a question from a member the Park Manager confirmed that the main cause of dogs being let off their leads appeared to be a lack of awareness of Park byelaws amongst the public.

The Superintendent added that it would help to carry out a period of vigorous enforcement to help raise awareness. He commented that any perceived lack of enforcement may be due to lack of staff confidence. He added that Hampstead Heath Constabulary had enforcement powers in Queen’s Park as well as upon the Heath and it might be beneficial to seek their support.

A member of the Group noted that he sometimes took the opportunity to remind dog walkers within the Park who had let their animals off the lead that this was contrary to Park byelaws, and that there was a nearby park that allowed them to exercise their dogs off the lead.

Cycling

A member of the Group took the opportunity to raise similar concerns over cycling byelaws within the Park being disregarded. She added that the Royal Parks had good examples of notices that helped raise awareness amongst cyclists. She also noted that new cycle stands were being provided by the Mayor of London on approaches into the Park.