Himley Park dog ban: It's undemocratic and ridiculous, say opposition councillors

Dudley Council is expected to unveil the results of a six-month trial and subsequent survey over banning canines from part of the historic site in the coming weeks.

But Conservative councillors say imposing the ban before any decision or public discussion took place was wrong.

Kingswinford North and Wall Heath councillor Nicola Richards said: "It's ridiculous that a ban has been put into place before consultation had started, and the whole process so far has been undemocratic.

"It is unfair on dog walkers that use the park throughout the whole year, and especially the guide dog community."

And Councillor Ed Lawrence said "I would perhaps understand the motivation for this decision if we were shown statistics of incidents with dogs at the park, but they refuse to give us any evidence and reject any alternatives we offer."

The pet-free zone covers the park's main entrance down to the West Gate, running alongside the Himley Road. The rest of the park is still available for dog owners to walk their pets.

The six-month trial came into force in February and although it was due to come to an end in August council bosses say the temporary ban will continue for the foreseeable future.

Dudley Council said the trial ban did not need to go through the formal council procedures and that public concern prompted the move.

Tourism chief councillor Khurshid Ahmed said: "We ran a well-publicised six month trial scheme to encourage more families into the park, creating a relatively small dog exclusion zone to encourage those who are uncomfortable around dogs to use the park.

"We carefully chose this small area, which is less than a quarter of the park, with families in mind, to keep a safe distance between children and the water and geese fouling in that area. We set up the zone in response to complaints from members of the public who said that they no longer used the park with their families due to the prevalence of dogs across the site.

"The trial scheme allowed us to get accurate, detailed, real-time feedback from all users of the park. Our wardens have been talking to all users, those with dogs and those without to get their views on the exclusion zone. The survey closed at the end of September and the results will be made available in the coming weeks. Recommendations from the survey will be implemented later in the year.

"As a purely operational decision, setting up the zone and running the pilot did not need to go through the formal council process, and as a community council we implemented the survey in response to public concerns."