Saturday 24 January 2009

So let me get this straight

Loughborough (Charnwood ) Council respond to my complaint about the local towpath -

Dear Lesley,
Thank you for your comment in regarding the state of the towpath which leads into town. I understand your concerns regarding the dog mess. Unfortunately Charnwood Borough Council are not responsible for clearing this. The towpath comes under the remit
of British Waterways. I have e-mailed them on your behalf informing them of the problem. If you wish to contact them yourself, in the future, their address is:
enquiries.emidlands@britishwaterways.co.uk
I hope the matter is resolved shortly, and that you can enjoy your pleasant setting.
Kind Regards
Magda Vaughan
Admin Assistant - Environmental Services 01509 634926

Well there is a surprise!

So let me get this straight...
Charnwood residents have access to the towpath . Charnwood residents walk their dogs along the towpath and Charnwood dogs empty their bowels on the towpath. Charnwood residents do not pay a licence fee to British Waterways, they pay a community charge to Charnwood Council but Charnwood Council believe it is British Waterways that must clean up after Charnwood dog owners.
Yeah, I think I get that now...

Pathetic!!!

3 comments:

Brian and Diana on NB Harnser said...

Maybe if BW closed the towing paths to the general public for a few months then maybe there would be a big enough outcry and the council would talk to BW and come to an agreement. In the days of commercial inland boating the towing paths were only open to boaters in lots of towns.

Brian

Anonymous said...

Hi Lesley,
I can understand why you get fed up with dog mess on the towpath - can you imagine how non-dog owners feel about it? But its not the council's job to keep private property clean and tidy. The towpath belongs to BW in the same way that a railway station platform belongs to Network Rail - and who would you expect to keep that clean?
Jim

Nb Yarwood said...

Hi Jim
I am not sure that your analogy works in this case. Railway platforms are accessed by 'railway customers' who are fair paying, access to railway platforms is restricted unlike ,that of towpaths which are used as a civic amenity. People do not go out of their way to walk their dogs, cycle or jog on railway property. An appropriate contribution from towns that benefit from rivers and canals by using them as recreational facilities doesn't seem too far fetched surely?