Changes to restrictions for when dogs can be taken on to Cornwall's beaches have received a mixed response following their first season.

Cornwall Council has a number of public space protection orders (PSPOs) in place which limit when dogs can be taken on some of the beaches in Cornwall.

This year, with the orders having to be renewed, the council introduced new restrictions which extended the time that dogs could be exercised on beaches.

It meant that on those beaches without Blue Flag or Seaside Award status the restrictions operated from July 1st to August 31st between 10am and 6pm.

Blue Flag and Seaside Award beaches have restrictions from May 15th to September 30th from 10am to 6pm.

When the changes were introduced councillors asked for a review to be carried out at the end of the season and the responses are due to be reported to a meeting of the neighbourhood overview and scrutiny committee on Thursday (November 26th).

The report states:

"The response to the new restrictions has been mixed. officers and the portfolio holder for environment and public protection have received emails directly from the public, Cornwall councillors and town and parish councils, as well as Visit Cornwall."

It states that there were 252 service requests, complaints and enquiries in 2020 – up from 234 last year.

Of those 47 related to dog fouling on beaches including those which are covered by PSPOs and those which are not.

The beaches with the most complaints in 2020 were Polzeath (38); Gyllyngvase (25); Porthtowan (16); Porthminster (14); Porth (13); and St Ives Harbour (12).

Dog welfare and enforcement officers carried out 344 patrols of dog restricted beaches during the summer – a big increase on last year when just 71 patrols were done.

On 182 of the patrols, no dogs were seen on restricted beaches; on 46 visits there was one dog; on 49 patrols there were two to four dogs and on 19 patrols five or more dogs were seen.

Council civil enforcement officers also carried out patrols on beaches – between May and September they saw 187 dogs on Polzeath; 138 on Crooklets Beach; eight dogs on Crackington Haven; five on Trevone and one on Porthtowan.

The report to the scrutiny committee also has details of the number of fixed penalty notices which have been an issue for dogs on dog restricted beaches.

There were five notices issued – three for dogs on Polzeath Beach and two for dogs on Porth Beach in Newquay.

However, the council says that it has taken an approach of "engage, educate, encourage and enforce" when finding breaches.

It states:

"This approach has been employed to protect enforcement officers from conflict with members of the public and to also protect them from contracting COVID-19. This has resulted in less fixed penalty notices being issued this year than the previous year, however, the increase in patrols undertaken by officers has meant that we have been able to engage with the public to a greater extent than in previous years."

Surveys were also sent to town and parish councils for their views on the new restrictions – 10 said they strongly agreed with the restrictions; 12 said they tended to agree; six neither agreed nor disagreed; six tended to disagree and eight strongly disagreed.

The survey found that 47% of councils felt that dog fouling on beaches was an issue and 56% felt that current signage was not adequate.

Feedback from the public included 17 emails from people hoping for greater restrictions, eight saying they were happy with the new restrictions, 10 from people asking for more relaxation on Porth beach in Newquay and three emails requesting better signage.

The report states:

"Comments from the public have ranged from thanks that there is increased access for dog walkers during the summer which have a positive impact on health and wellbeing, to concerns that people do not feel comfortable visiting beaches first thing in the morning when dogs are present. Specific concerns have been raised regarding the impact on stress and anxiety when dogs are allowed on beaches and the impacts of dog fouling."

The scrutiny committee will be asked to consider the report and make any comments when it meets on Thursday.

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