People who let dogs off the lead in Crawley’s Tilgate Park could soon be fined

Tilgate Park, Crawley. Pic by Steve Robards

People who allow their dogs to run off the lead in Tilgate Park could soon find themselves out of pocket.

A consultation is scheduled to be held in February/March on plans to put a Public Space Protection Order in place banning dogs from play areas and the Walled Garden and requiring them to be on the lead in all other areas of the park.

If the order is approved by Crawley Borough Council, anyone who breaches it would be committing a criminal offence.

This could lead to a Fixed Penalty Notice being issued – currently set at £100 – or a fine of up to £1,000 if the matter went to prosecution.

Rules listed on the council’s website already require dogs to be kept on a lead – and out of the water – at all times around the lake.

But anyone who regularly visits the park will know this does not always happen.

The possibility of setting up a protection order to enforce the rules will be discussed during meetings of the council’s cabinet and overview & scrutiny commission next week.

It’s an issue which has been on the table for a while.

In September, councillors discussed a petition, signed by 146 people, which was submitted after a dog was attacked by another which was not on a lead.

While recognising that most dog owners act responsibly when out with their pets, councillors recalled incidents of wildlife such as swans and deer being chased or attacked, with one revealing that his grown-up daughter had been bitten by a dog which ran out of the lake.

A report from Kate Wilson, the council’s head of community services, said 22 dog-related reports had been made to Sussex Police between 2018 and 2021.

The council has also received a number of complaints – the latest coming from a cyclist on December 18.

It said that a dog walker was with ten dogs, none of which were on a lead, when one of them – a Doberman – ran at the cyclist, hitting their knee with its teeth, before chasing them as they rode off.

As well as the three-year protection order, councillors will discuss reinstating a high-profile education and information programme aimed at dog owners.