Good news: Plan to ban dogs on Isle of Wight beaches is not all year round (Updated)

Last week the Isle of Wight council (IWC) published details of their proposal to carry out a public consultation on banning dogs from some cemeteries, parks and beaches, as well as requiring dogs on leads in certain areas (see below).

What was not included in the article written by the Local Democracy Reporter was that the ban is only planned between 1st May and 30th September and is not all year round.

What is the Local Democracy Reporting Service?

The BBC’s Local Democracy Reporting Service started in March 2018.

Under it the Local Democracy Reporter (LDR) is paid for by the BBC, but employed by the Isle of Wight County Press.

They are charged with writing articles that impact local democracy, such as actions by the council.

The articles the LDR writes are shared with publications who pass the BBC’s LDRS quality threshold, such as OnTheWight.

Setting the record straight
The Local Democracy Reporter leaving the dates out of the article was a small, but in our view, significant omission and one we want to clarify in the minds of the public.

OnTheWight only discovered this after spending a not-inconsiderable amount of time going through the council papers’ appendices, individually comparing each of the beaches’ current restrictions (see here) and new proposals.

It now appears what IWC are proposing as part of the new Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) will mean no change for dog walkers on beaches.

Given the reaction of residents and holidaymakers to last week’s news has been anger and in just three days a petition set up to stop the consultation has attracted over 6,000 signatures, we think it’s important to set the record straight.

Affected beaches
The beaches affected by this partial ban are detailed below (see maps below for exact sections of beach) – and access by dogs during the winter period is something that is already in place (first introduced back in 2009/10).

Colwell Beach
Cowes Beach
East Cowes Beach
Freshwater Bay
Gurnard Beach
Ryde Beach
Sandown Beach
Seagrove Beach
Shanklin Beach
Springvale Beach
Ventnor Beach
Yaverland Beach

The maps
The maps below show exactly where the restrictions will be. Click on the images to see larger versions and to click through.

‘Dogs on Leads areas’: The detail
For full details of the proposals see the council papers below – which includes detail of the other restrictions such as dogs on leads and dogs banned from playgrounds and cemeteries.

Also included is the list of all parks and ‘areas’ where dogs must be kept on a lead. You can see the mapped are below (Appendix 3). These are: