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£50 on-the-spot fine for breaking royal park rules
Nicholas Cecil11.03.09
Cyclists, dog walkers and other visitors who break by-laws in London's Royal Parks face being
hit with £50 on-the-spot fines.
Ministers are pushing ahead with plans to allow police to issue fixed penalty notices for dropping litter, dog fouling and flouting cycling regulations.
The fines could come in as early as the summer. “Going to a fixed penalty system does make sense, particularly for loutish cyclists and litter bugs,” said Susan Kramer, Liberal Democrat MP for the Richmond Park constituency.
However, she opposes fines for dog owners who do not clean up after their pets until the Royal Parks introduce more disposal bins and a better education campaign on the problems of dog fouling.
She said many dog owners who use the parks do not realise they should pick up after their animals.Putney Conservative MP Justine Greening warned, however, of the risks of a backlash against the fines, especially as the Royal Parks are also proposing new parking charges in Richmond Park and Bushy Park, of £1 and 50p an hour respectively.
Ms Greening said: “Millions of people have for years enjoyed the Royal Parks as an oasis of the countryside in the city. We don't want that spoilt by parking charges, cars being towed away and overzealous use of fines.”
The new rules will apply to the eight Royal Parks: Regents Park, Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Green Park, St James's Park, Greenwich Park, Bushy Park and Richmond Park.
They will also cover Brompton Cemetery, Victoria Tower Gardens and Grosvenor Square Gardens which come under the Royal Parks' jurisdiction.
Justice minister Maria Eagle told MPs the Royal Parks had requested the fixed penalties.There would be a three-month consultation period, she added.
The park authorities said that as transgressors can now only be prosecuted through the courts which is expensive and takes time, most are just given a ticking off. A spokeswoman added: “We support the introduction of fixed penalty notices as this will improve the park environment and the enjoyment and safety of park users.”
Reader views (22)
I always pick up after my dogs if it's somewhere that anyone is likely to walk. But if they poo in the long grass and bracken it's impossible to find let alone clear up!
Lets, please, keep a sense of proportion.
All the mown grass tracks are littered with horse and deer droppings. We certainly never add to this.
- Fleur, Hampton Wick
So all the dog owners are now swamping Primrose Hill to walk their loved ones.... Charming for our NW3 children.
- Rudi Ratlos, Munich Germany
Sarah Bradshaw, why are sticking up for dog mess so much? It is one of the nastiest avoidable problems society has to face.
- Stan, Welling
OK, so theoretically dog poo can cause blindness, but isn't it funny how all the millions of us managed to grow up without going blind from it? Has anyone out there ever actually met anyone that's gone even slightly blind from dog poo? I think it is one of those risks that must be so incredibly minuscule that it is far outweighed by the enjoyment of walking dogs and seeing dogs run free. Unlike cyclists who bring no enjoyment to anyone but themselves. In other words, selfish people!
- Sarah Bradshaw, Enfield, Middx
"how much more stupid can all this get. so deer can poo but dogs can't ?"
There is a world of difference between a few deer pellets and the excrement from meat-eating dogs. Or haven't you stepped in any?
- Lewis, Richmond
This should be interesting, doesn't Boris cycle to work on the pavements in a Royal Park?
- Bob, Cheam
Hurrah for the Royal Parks police, a pity the Met are so assiduous when it comes to pavement cyclists. They could do well to deal with the Eckford Street rat-run in N1, particularly as it's over-looked by the largest police station in north London!
- Jack, London
If i wanted to live in a country where there was dog poo everywhere and no one cared - i'd go and live in France.
In the meantime, there's a sure fire stone bonker way to avoid paying these fines...........obey the rules, there, said it.
- Tom, London
Living close to Kensington Gardens with two very small kids, I can say that it's the cyclists who are the menace. They zoom along at high speed, the worst ones being the big blokes presumably commuting to work, who feel furious all the time with anyone in their way, even though we are on non cycling paths. One even cycled at high speed right up to my four year old daughter who was ambling along a foot path, screeched to a halt dramatically and glared at her pointedly, the fool. I can think of where the dog poo should be confined to - the cycle paths. Give me a messy dog over an obnoxious cyclist any day.
- Jen, London, England
Give the money to the queen. She needs it.
- Thomas, London
A bit of dog poo might never have killed anyone but it can blind - Uveitis caused by Toxicara in that ever-so-innocent aformentioned dog poo...
- Steve, Greenwich
how much more stupid can all this get. so deer can poo but dogs can't ? perhaps therefore the parks police can clean up after the deer and set an example. its (richmond & bushy parks) a wild area for heavens sake !!!!!!!
sarah bradshaw - you are a sound woman !!!
- Br, london
I see the fines, level of, as no more than a money raising exercise to provide more money for those in the House with their snouts deep in the expenses/pensions trough.
How about fines for the honourable members wasting parliamentary time with trivial issues, instead of addressing the real issues of the day?
- Hugh, Middx
Where will all this money go?Royal parks department,perhaps.Why does this not apply to all parks!!
- Robert, lonon uk
Since when has ignorance of a law been an excuse, and leaving a pile of poo lying about is wrong whether or not you know the written rules. Can we extend the fines to cover amplified music, picking flowers and smoking whilst stationary?
- Stephen, London
Sarah, you are completely wrong that dog poo never killed anyone. Many dogs carry toxicara, a parasite which can infect humans through exposure to dog faeces, and which can cause blindness and even death. Children are especially vulnerable.
- Nigel, London
If dog owners are too stupid to know they are required to pick up their dog's mess then they shouldn't be allowed to own a dog. If people had to apply for dog licences, then they could be educated about responsible dog ownership via an information pack at the same time. At the moment, anyone can own a dog which is why we have so much dog mess and so many 'status' dogs.
- Lindsay, london
I can see absolutely no reason on earth why cyclists should even be allowed into parks. They cause enough mayhem on the streets and pavements. Can't we have a few areas without their menacing presence? A bit of dog poo, on the other hand, never killed anyone.
- Sarah Bradshaw, Enfield, Middx
I hope the police do something about dog owners who get into the park, let their dogs loose, then look the other way for five minutes. the entrance and surrounding area uis awash with dog mess.
- Walker, Sheen
Too many cyclists in Hyde Park ignore the 'No Cycling' signs and seem to go where they please. There is no point in putting up these signs, presumably for the protection of walkers, if they are not to be enforced.
- Peter Haldane, London
How can an MP say many dog owners who use the parks do not realise they should pick up after their animals?
- John, Wandsworth
Three things spoil my regular visits to Bushy and Richmond Parks. Dog mess and out of control dogs, mountain bikers going off roads, and speeding motorists, including park staff sometimes.
I hope the PROSPECT of these fines and the associated publicity will act as a deterent to the anti-social and anti-nature behaviour of a minoirty of park users.
- Martin H. Watson, Teddington
