Old cemetery could be exempted from dog ban

Notices of the council's intentions were published in April, giving the public opportunity to make representations.

Councillors meeting at the Town Hall at 2.30 will have before them the representations made by objectors.

Director of resources Malcolm Johnston will recommond to the June 10 cabinet meeting that with the exception of the former Bexhill Cemetery in Barrack Road and an amendment to the eastern boundary of the specified area at Camber beach the Orders should be made as published.

Objectors to the banning of dogs in the former cemetery argued that no burials now take place there and effectively the land is public open space.

If agreed, dogs would be allowed in the former cemetery subject to a poop-scoop requirement.

An objector argued that the ban on dogs on designated areas of the beach in summer should operate only in daytime.

Mr Johnston says: "The view of the officers is that dogs should not be permitted on the exclusion beaches at any time.

"This would create a difficulty in enforcement and complicated signage.

"People who want to use a beach that is not used by dogs will want to do so during the summer evenings as well.

"A dog ban sign at a beach is not only a restriction on dog owners; it is also a promise to beach users who would not be comfortable about laying on a beach where the last night a dog had urinated or defecated, even if the faeces had been scraped up by the owner '“ always assuming they had been.

"Care has been taken in selecting beach areas for exclusion of dogs to ensure that nearby beach areas are not restricted."

Mr Johnston concludes: "On balance, while the cabinet is required to have regard to the representations received in response to the formal legal notification of the Order before reaching a final decision, it does not appear appropriate to abandon the Order, or to amend it save by the deletion of Barrack Road cemetery, Bexhill and the amendment of the eastern boundary of the Specified Area at Camber."

If agreed, the Orders would come into effect on July 1.