Dog walkers in two parts of Harrow have been locked out of using the dog mess bins in what locals fear may be a “worrying” prelude to the removal of all such specialist bins.
Waves of getwestlondon readers from Harrow riled against the previous attempt to remove dog bins last year when the authority sought to save £35,000, forcing the then-ruling Independent Labour administration to U-turn on the policy.
However the Labour-run council have now begun locking dog bins in two parks – Alexandra Park in South Harrow and Pinner Village Gardens in Pinner – as it floats the idea to dog walkers once more.
Mic Sayer, chair of Harrow Recreation Ground Users’ Association, said: “We had a meeting about this last night and obviously it is very worrying.
“We opposed it before, and we will oppose it again. If they introduced this to our park then we will certainly be complaining.
“They want dog walkers to start putting mess in standard litter bins, but this is obviously unhygienic and will only lead to more littering and less care for our parks and open spaces.”
Campaigners successfully fought off a previous attempt by the then-Independent Labour administration to scrap all 120 the dog mess bins to save £35,000.
In fact, replacing the 20 bins it had already removed before the change of heart cost the taxpayer £12,000.
The U-turn was even welcomed at the time by Councillor Phillip O’Dell, who is now a part of the current administration, and said at the time that ‘the Labour group welcomes the U-turn by Harrow Council to continue separate bins for dog waste’.
Conservative opposition group leader Councillor Susan Hall said: “I visited Pinner Village Gardens myself to have a look, and I was appalled to see residents are being asked to put dog waste in normal litter bins – it’s so unhygienic.
“Why do Labour hate our parks so much?
"Whereas we put funding in the budget to ensure our parks would be looked after and to pay for these dog waste bins, the moment Labour get in they consult on letting the parks get dirty and start sneaky trials to see if anyone notices if they seal the bins up.
"Well I can assure Labour that residents are noticing, and they’re not happy.
“Last time Harrow residents were united in their opposition to this ridiculous proposal.I hope they will make their voices heard yet again, and that Labour listen to what they’re saying."
Councillor Varsha Parmar, cabinet member for environment and enterprise, said: "With £75m of cuts being imposed by the Conservative government on Harrow Council, and our residents, we are being forced to look how we run all of our services.
"We started this trial to dispose of dog waste in park bins in Alexandra Park several months ago. After putting up posters and installing new bins we have had absolutely no complaints from residents.
"Like residents we feel strongly that all of our parks should be kept as clean as possible, which is why are taking a measured and sensitive approach to this trial.
"We are keen to hear residents feedback, having now extended the trial to Pinner."
