Amman Valley riverside walk being “desecrated” (From South Wales Guardian)

Amman Valley riverside walk being “desecrated”

12:10pm Thursday 12th July 2012 in Ammanford news

ONE OF the most beautiful walks in the Amman Valley is being “desecrated” by the actions of selfish and inconsiderate dog owners, according to a local county councillor.

Cllr Colin Evans said he was fed up with seeing doggie bags hanging “like grotesque Christmas decorations” from shrubbery along the Riverside Walk from Pontaman to Garnant.

And Cllr Jonathan Davies said he was “horrified” by the amount of dog fouling he witnessed on Ammanford Park’s cricket square when he took a team of schoolboys to play there. “I just couldn’t believe it,” he said.

Now the town council has pledged to direct enforcement officers to problem areas, while county councillor Deian Harries is demanding more bins on the outskirts of town.

Cllr Evans – who said he walked his own dog along the Riverside Walk at least twice a week – claimed the route has been “blighted” by some dog owners.

“They go to the trouble of picking up their dog’s mess in plastic bags – and then throw them into the hedge or undergrowth,”

he said. “They resemble grotesque Christmas decorations hanging from the branches – the place is being desecrated so I am asking for bins along the Riverside Walk.”

Cllr Davies recounted his ownexperience atAmmanford Park. “Two of us spent a lot of time cleaning up dog mess so the Ysgol BroBanwteam could play there,” he added.

Cllr Martin Davies claimed most dog fouling in Ammanford happened after 4pm, when enforcement officers were not on patrol.

But Cllr Evans inssisted this was not the case. “These officers will target areas and times that are specified,” he said.