Man's best friend falls foul of councillors

Problem continues to dog Wick council


FOULING of the hi-ways and bi-ways of Wick continues to cause concern to members of the royal burgh’s community council.
New community warden Colin Macintosh says that although he only took up duty last September, the fouling has quickly emerged as one of the issues that attracts most complaints.
The problem is the inherent one...catching the offending owners who don’t poop-scoop. However, Mr Macintosh told the council last night that now there were two wardens in post in the county, the chances of catching dog owners in the act, and getting them prosecuted, was higher.
The optimism over a problem which has been the subject of recurring discussions at the council table, was voiced by Mr Macintosh when he outlined the work of the wardens, as guest speaker.
In general terms, he said that he had only been in post for a relative short period and was endeavouring to establish a rapport with the public and get it across to them that the wardens were approachable and were keen to hear from them on a range of issues such as the dog fouling and anti-social behaviour.
He said: “We know there are problem areas and finding a solution to them is going to take some time. A lot of people know we are here but don’t know what we are here for.”
He appealed to the public to make contact with himself and his colleague through the service points in the two towns.
Assistant community works officer Ann Begg also highlighted the problem at the council’s December meeting and revealed a poster campaign was to be launched. She too conceded that the chief difficulty was catching offenders and suggested that putting fines for the offence on a par with to fly-tipping, could act as a deterrent.
Ms Begg won support from the police representative present when she appealed for action against people caught walking their dogs in children’s play areas.
*Allan Farquhar, chair of H.A.P.P.Y. which revived the annual Hogmanay street party last week, after a year’s absence, reported it had been a resounding success.
He paid tribute to everyone who had contributed to the Market Square bash,in good weather, but made the point that his committee required a £1000 funding boost for the next celebration.
*Council chair, Ruth Black gave notice that she will be stepping down from the post and her membership at the council’s AGM in April, citing personal commitments.
An assessment of the damage caused to created pathways in the town, by year end storms, is being undertaken.