Fury as dog poo bins ‘sneakily’ removed from London parks
Brent Council has been accused of “sneakily reducing services” by removing dog poo bins from the borough’s park. Opposition councillors claim it has caused an increase in black plastic bags left hanging from trees. The Brent Liberal Democrats said the decision makes no sense and is giving out the wrong message to residents, who are being encouraged to help the council keep the borough tidy.Cllr Anton Georgiou said the policy “stinks” and added: “This barmy idea has resulted in dog poo and black plastic bags filled with it littering our area, especially around trees on local roads and in parks.
“We are calling on Brent Labour to immediately seek a variation in the waste contract with Veolia to reinstate dog waste bins and regular servicing of them across the borough. The council must reverse these crappy changes.”
Brent Council said they are moving to a “dual usage bin” in parks to tackle a growing fly-tipping problem.
There were 37,281 cases of fly-tipping reported across the North London borough between January 2021 and January 2023, according to data obtained by the Local Democracy Reporting Service. A Brent Council spokesperson said: “We are serious about keeping our green spaces clean and inviting for all. We work closely with Veolia to keep our parks clean and reduce flytipping.
“They are currently removing some dog fouling-only bins and moving towards a dual usage bin that takes dog fouling bags as well as general litter. The evidence so far suggests that this helps reduce fly-tipping as some residents would leave their general waste next to dog fouling-only bins.” Representative for Sudbury ward, Cllr Paul Lorber, presumes that the changes to dog poo collection are a way to cut costs, following changes made to the waste contract with Veolia.
He said he has seen an increase in the number of black bags dotted around the borough’s park, which he claims is because there is nowhere else for people to put them. “Most owners are responsible and they do pick up after their dogs but they would expect to have an opportunity to put the bags somewhere. It’s not a very good idea, anyone who has walked round the parks will wonder why there are little black bags hanging off trees.”
He added: “They could put them in the ordinary bins but I’m not sure that’s the answer.
I don’t understand the logic of it because the park continues to be cleaned, it’s giving out the wrong message.”