Councillors support extension of dog ban on beaches in Scarborough borough
The current restrictions banning dogs from beaches between May and September came into force in 2017, but run out soon
Scarborough councillors have backed an extension to the current seasonal ban on dogs on parts of the borough’s beaches.
The borough council’s Overview and Scrutiny Board have today recommended that the authority extends the current Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) that places controls on where the pets can be exercised.
The PSPO includes a number of restrictions on where dogs can be walked and kept on leads and this includes sections of the borough’s beaches under what is known locally as the “dog ban”.
The dog ban covers the main sections of beach at Scarborough South Bay and North Bay, Whitby West Cliff and Tate Hill, Filey and Sandsend.
The ban runs from May until the end of September each year, although it was paused this year due to the pandemic.
The current PSPO, which came into force in 2017, expires in January 2021 and must be renewed.
A consultation exercise on the council’s restrictions ran during July and August where a total of 824 responses were received from the public.
The fixed penalty notice levels were largely supported at £100 for a dog fouling offence and £75 for a breach of an exclusion order or a dog being off a lead when required.
Support from the ban on beaches across Scarborough Whitby and Filey ranged from 37% to 43% from respondents with the rest of the people either saying the ban lasted too long, not long enough or that they thought the area it covered was wrong.
There was more support for areas with year-round dogs on lead restrictions in place.
During today’s meeting, Cllr David Jeffels said that he welcomed the restrictions remaining in place saying it “seems to be working well”.
Green Party councillor Cllr Neil Robinson asked why it was deemed that it was not feasible to have a timed restriction to allow people to take their dogs onto the beach on an evening as it would be “difficult” for visitors to understand.
Cllr Robinson said:
“Do people understand that parking is free after 6pm?
“If they understand that then why could they not understand that they can’t take their dogs onto the beach until after 6pm.”
Paul Thompson, the council’s Operations, Transport and Countryside manager, responded that the sections of the beaches were the bans were in place were often very busy in the summer.
He said:
“If you were to go down to some of our tourist beaches they are still very busy with people at 7, 8, 9 and 10 o’clock. We have seen a big increase in demand in those hours in tourist numbers so I think the justification for taking the restriction off in those hours is not there.”
The Overview and Scrutiny Board backed the extending of the PSPO, with just Cllr Robinson voting against.
The extension will now require the backing of first the authority’s cabinet and then the full council.