Crawley Question Time 2022: The future use of Tilgate Park and how difficult issues can be managed

Crawley Question Time was hosted at Crawley College yesterday (March 10) and included a panel of guests from the key sectors that form the town.

The panel featured Councillor Peter Lamb, Councillor Duncan Crow, Councillor Michael Jones, Chief Inspector Shane Baker, Deputy Youth Mayor Shelly Sharma, Dr Pennie Ford and Dr Laura Hill.

Dog attacks are becoming more frequent and this has sparked the proposed change in the rules surrounding the need for dog owners to keep their dogs on leads when visiting the park.

Tilgate Park’s popularity has meant an increase in footfall, which has led to more issues and increased tensions between the different park users.

Community Reporter for Crawley Observer, Ellis Peters, asked: “What is being done about the Council’s proposed fine on dog owners not keeping dogs on leads in and around Tilgate Park?”

Cllr Peter Lamb, replied: “At the moment we are consulting on it. People often jump the gun by saying this thing or the other. To be clear, it’s been banned to have your dogs on the lead near the lake for literally forever but people still do it.

“We regularly find the remains of baby ducks and swans that are down there. We’ve had people attacked by dogs. We’ve had people whose dogs have been attacked by other dogs. Actually people who’ve asked about the ban have dogs themselves.

“The problem is that everyone loves their pet, think’s them as adorable and won’t do harm to anybody. This is true until it gets to the point when the dog causes harm. At the moment if a dog is off the leash, we can’t do anything.

“What the PSPO (Public Space Protection Order) does is that it gives the power to Community Wardens to fine people at their discretion. When there is a fine, you can see the risk diminishing.

The question was proposed to Cllr Duncan Crow, who’s constituency Furnace Green covers the Tilgate Park area.

Cllr Duncan Crow, replied: “There is clearly an issue that is trying to be addressed. As you said the issues are mainly around the lake, which can be argued as the busiest part of the park, with the footfall.

“My own daughter was bitten by a dog when she was jogging around the lake. It bit her twice as she ran past. As Peter said dogs are ok until the first time they do something wrong.

“The difficulty of the proposed PSPO order of the entire park is the enforcement of it. My personal preference would be to have it enforced just around the lake and grass lawns. It needs to be a clearly defined area, so there is no ambiguity on where the order is applied.

“Whatever is put in place needs to be seen as reasonable or people won’t respect it.”

See More: Tilgate Park dog walkers restrictions: The debate continues, People who let dogs off the lead in Crawley’s Tilgate Park could soon be fined, This is how you can have your say on order to tackle dog-related anti-social behaviour in Tilgate Park

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