Peterborough City Councillor claims overflowing dog waste bins on Manor Drive estate are a health risk to children

A city councillor has warned residents on the Manor Drive estate that inadequate dog waste facilities may be putting their children’s health at risk.

Gunthorpe councillor Bryan Tyler says the limited number of dog waste bins represents a significant health risk to local residents - especially children.

“Half of the estate has a few bins [and] the other half has none,” he explains.

“My concerns are for the ever-increasing school population who go by the bins each day.”

Having few dog waste bins on the estate means those that are actually on hand have bags (often split/torn) of dog poop scattered on top of, beneath and adjacent to them.

This puts them well within easy reach of curious young toddlers, and right in the path of playful older children.

Inadvertently ingested dog faeces can, the councillor insists, result in illness, infection and – in some cases – even death.

He and his fellow campaigners believe it is the duty of “irresponsible” owners who have “no consideration for local people or community” to take their dog’s poop home with them when a dog waste bin is clearly full.

“If it’s your dog, clean up after it or risk being fined, named and shamed,” he warns.

The councillor believes the issue of having too few dog waste bins on the estate is only one part of the problem.

Another concern, he insists, is the infrequency with which the dog bins are typically emptied.

He says the fact that a number of different developers/property managers (such as Keepmoat and First Port) are responsible for the estate’s maintenance makes it difficult to ascertain who, exactly, is responsible for emptying bins in certain areas.

He also suggests Peterborough City Council has been reluctant to act upon residents’ requests.

Speaking to the Peterborough Telegraph, Robert Harding, Customer Services Director at Keepmoat South Midlands, acknowledged more could be done.“We’re working closely with the property management company responsible for the development to ensure the bins are emptied on a more regular basis,” he said.“They have apologised for the oversight and mitigating factors are now in place to get the bins emptied in the next 24 hours,” he added.

"Weekly checks will also be undertaken to ensure waste does not pile up.”

The property management company First Port is also confident that the situation can be improved:

“We are sorry there was a short delay in the dog waste bins being emptied whilst a new contractor was being appointed,” a spokesperson said.

"A new contractor is now in place and the bins are back to being emptied weekly.”

A spokeswoman for Peterborough City Council said: “Unfortunately these dog waste bins are on unadopted land and therefore it is the responsibility of the developer to arrange for them to be emptied.”