Why just pick on the park’s easy targets?
WALKING around High Crompton Park you will come across enough signs to fill a skip warning dog walkers, who are the main stakeholders of this park, about how many dogs they can take on the park and warning them to pick up after their pets or face a fine.
A few years ago, local schools were encouraged to entered a competition to design `Dog Poo’ warning signs, Oldham council then posted them all around our park.
Now a minority party, or a person, who recently visited High Crompton Park complained to the council about a dog being off its lead.
That complaint was sufficient for the council to post yet another poster stopping responsible dog owners, the main stakeholders of this park from exercising their pets off their leads.
Where are the `No Horse Riding,’ `No Golf,’ `No 4X4 Vehicles’ and `No Bike Riding’ signs?
Where are the warning signs stating `No Vandalism,’ `No Drug Taking,’ `No Under Age Drinking’?
Where are the `No Litter’ signs, or `Please Clean Up After Your Picnic’ signs?
Or indeed, the `No Poo Or Wee In The Bushes When The Park Wcs Are Closed’ signs?
The `No Golf’ and `No Horse Riding’ signs fell down several years ago and lay in the park compound along with the goal posts before the signs were eventually assigned to a skip. Why have these signs not been replaced by the council?
Dog walkers are more than aware that when dogs are constantly walked on a park there will always be the occasional owner who refuses to pick up after their dog.
No matter how many signs are posted by Oldham council regarding `Dog Poo’ this irresponsible behaviour will unfortunately not stop.
You have to ask, does this in any way compare with the nightly vandalism of our park carried out by youths and druggies?
How much longer before youths rip up the newly planted flower beds and shrubs, or cut down the flag pole again, or damage park benches and fences again?
Last week two children were chasing their remote-controlled cars across the bowling green just days after it had been prepared and `taped off’ for the winter.
Will the council now be putting up signs announcing fines to prevent any of the vandalism, and the like, now that I have brought these matters to their attention? Why does the council just pick on the easy targets, the main stakeholders of our park, the responsible dog owners and their well-behaved, much loved pets? RG Wilcock, Oldham