A woodland popular with mountain bikers and dog walkers is being blighted by dog poo bags. Local resident Caz Chivers was out walking her dog in Idless Woods just outside Truro this morning (Tuesday December 31) but was left horrified by the amount of dog poo bags piled high near the small car park.
Idless is a woodland 2.8 miles in length, on the outskirts of Cornwall’s capital city, which comprises of Bishop’s Wood, St Clement Woods, Lord’s Wood and Lady’s Wood. Almost a year ago, Forestry England announced it would remove the bins because of the rising costs in their upkeep.
Since then, some dog walkers have been leaving dog poo bags not only in piles by the posts that once held the litter bins but along the trails of the Sylvan beauty spot too.
Ms Chivers, who lives in the city and walks her dog in the woods at least once a week, was so disgusted by the inconsiderate dog walkers who leave poo bags everywhere that she took pictures of them in a bid to shame them into taking it home instead of leaving it everywhere.
In a message to CornwallLive, she said: “It has certainly got worse. The bins for dog waste were removed about a year ago and since then people have been piling up their bags at the start/end of the walk and along the path. This is a health hazard and is very unsightly.
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“I hope that these pictures will prompt careless dog walkers to act more responsibly and Forestry England will take note and the bins will be reinstated.”
The picture of the pile of dog poo bags was taken just beyond the car park where the path forks to the left and right into the woods.
The issue is one that has been ongoing for several months. Back in May, in a post on the Truro…Our City Facebook group, local resident Mark Nicholls, already highlighted the problem with pictures of the mess left behind by some dog walkers.
At the time, he said, “Sad to see selfish and lazy dog walkers (not all) leaving their mess as obviously it’s someone else’s problem. It’s not the forestry commission’s job to pick up your mess. Stop being lazy and inconsiderate and respect a wonderful location. I would not blame the forestry commission if they closed the woods to the public if this continues.”
Forestry England said not every square inch of woodland and forest in the country has bins because it costs a lot of money to maintain and empty them, when all it takes to keep nature litter-free is for visitors to take it home with them.
On its website, the organisation said: “We ask that visitors bring out what they take into other parts of the forest. By restricting bins to key visitor hubs, waste disposal can be part of other essential forest duties in these areas. Time is limited and our local teams have other important duties to carry out, such as maintaining facilities and arranging permissions for events.”
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