Monday, 24 November 2014

We're Watching You, claims Luton Borough Council

Keep Britain Tidy has launched a campaign to target owners who allow their dogs to foul public spaces. It boasts that "Over twenty land managers have joined forces" with them, and lists Luton Borough Council among these.
I hope Luton Borough Council doesn't see this as the extent of its obligations when it comes to clean streets. Obviously, tackling the problem at its source is the ideal, but the statutory duty to clean mess once it's there remains. Sadly, on the evidence available, it might be tempting to suppose that Luton Borough Council relishes positive publicity more than cleaning up the streets. Earlier this year, the response to Luton Poo's campaign seemed positive, with an offer being made to me by the council to meet and discuss ways of dealing with the problem. Eight months later (see post Sipping Sangria just makes us angrier) the promised follow-up has not happened, suggesting that getting Luton Poo to STFU was the prime concern.
Let's hope that basking on a list of right-minded councils is the just reward for real effort, rather than the means to an end.



Sipping Sangria just makes us angrier

Back in March, I happily reported that a representative of Luton Borough Council had contacted me directly with a view to arranging a meeting to discuss ways to tackle High Town's fouling problem.

In his email, Mr Hockley explained that his line manager, Mrs Wyatt, was on leave. He promised to contact me again when she returned.

<checks calendar>

Nice long holiday, Mrs Wyatt! ;-)




Sarcasm aside, I know we all have busy lives. (I have to admit that, as it's one* of my excuses for not chasing the matter since. In fact, it's also the reason poos #00051 to #00057 don't have LBC reference numbers. Since I didn't get around to posting the photos online for several days after taking them, most had been trodden in and spread around to the point of invisibility, so I didn't bother reporting them.) All communications from Luton Borough Council have been positive till now, so presumably Luton Poo just got lost in the rush. I'll follow this up via email shortly, and report on the result here.






*The others being that it wasn't me who promised next contact, and I'm not getting paid to organise cleaning up the streets.


Tuesday, 18 November 2014

Poo #00057 - Tue 18 November, Reginald Street

Poo #00057 - Reginald Street

Google Map (Opens in new window.)
Google Street View (Opens in new window.)



Poo #00056 - Tue 18 November, Mussons Path

Poo #00056 - Mussons Path

Google Map (Opens in new window.)
Google Street View (Opens in new window.)


 

Poo #00055 - Tue 18 November, Mussons Path

Poo #00055 - Mussons Path

Google Map (Opens in new window.)
Google Street View (Opens in new window.)




Poo #00054 - Tue 18 November, Mussons Path

Poo #00054 - Mussons Path

Google Map (Opens in new window.)
Google Street View (Opens in new window.)




Wednesday, 5 November 2014

Back in action!

My long-lost camera has been found at last! Expect regular poo updates to resume shortly.

Thursday, 23 October 2014

Reginald Street - The battle is joined!

On 16 October, I spotted this in Reginald Street. 

Somebody highlighted a scatter of poo by circling the offending messes with yellow paint. 

I'm not sure about the legality of private citizens painting markings on public footpaths, and can't condone the practice without clarifying this. But what the hell... yay! Way to go, Mystery Painter! I hope you didn't and don't get into trouble for your helpful behaviour. Whoever you are, thanks for drawing attention to the doggy-do and preventing me and countless others from stepping in it.

Just think - if Mystery Painter kept this up, the true extent of the problem would quickly become obvious to Luton Borough Council, as High Town pavements would be mostly yellow within days. Sadly, there seems to be no sign of this. If you are the Mystery Painter superhero, please drop us a line here at Luton Poo HQ. We'd love to hear your story - and promise to preserve your anonymity.


Apologies for the quietness of the Luton Poo website lately. My camera is missing, and it was only luck that I was carrying a borrowed phone the day Poo #00051 was photographed.

Thursday, 27 March 2014

A Promising Development

If you follow Luton Poo on Twitter, you'll be aware that Luton Borough Council suggested a meeting to discuss the dog mess problem and ways to tackle it. Today they sent an email about it, and things look set to happen in the next couple of weeks. 

In some ways, this means that the Luton Poo website and associated social media soapboxes have achieved success. Obviously, this site isn't about the display of excrement for its own sake - rather, it's about raising awareness and prompting the authorities to take action. The council shares Luton Poo's desire for transparency, so watch this space for updates.


Saturday, 15 March 2014

One "L" of a lot of poo

"L" ...the Roman numeral for 50. That's how many poos we've photographed and reported to Luton Borough Council in the eight days from 5 March to 13 March.

It seems a nice round number at which to pause and take stock. I have better things to do than traipse about looking for poo. Ordinarily, just avoiding it takes more effort than I care to expend, to be honest. I'll continue to monitor the poos already reported, and make posts here if and when they are cleared. But apart from that, I'm retiring from the poo patrol business... for now. If things haven't significantly improved by the start of next month, I'll resume activities - for two weeks instead of one. And petition councillors, and local media. I hope it doesn't come to that.

So, let's leave it there for now. Fifty poos. Fifty reports to Luton Borough Council. And 44 of those poos remain, rotting on the footpaths of High Town. Even giving Luton Borough Council the benefit of the doubt, not all of the 6 vanished poos were removed by its cleaners.

Fifty poo reports you're sitting on, Luton Borough Council. The ball is in your court.

Will you do the right thing?


Poo #00048 Revisited

Poo gone! But hardly a resounding success story for Luton Borough Council. A poo in the road was always going to be smeared all over the place by car tyres. 

See original Poo #00048 post here.

Poo #00047 Revisited

See original Poo #00048 post here.

Poo #00046 Revisited

See original Poo #00046 post here.