State of Westport Beach !!

[Angelcakes]

"Banning"

So what about us that do actually tidy up and dont leave a tip... Westport is great wee get away if you dont have the funds to go to other places...

Why should the idiots spoil it for the rest of us

[gizmo]

Who the hell thought banning people was a good idea.
As for dog crap burying, that is more or less a non starter, if folk dont carry a couple of plastic pokes there is no way they will carry a spade. If I'm out with the dog and it does leave a deposit near a pathway,I will scoop it under a bush (working on the principal that it wont be there long) the good lady wife on the other hand feels naked without a wee bag of dog poo, even if she doesn't have the dog with her.
As for irresponsible camping, not all camping, doesn't the local authority have powers to prosecute offenders. Saying that do they not have the same powers for litter chuckers, poo leavers (dog not horse ).
A couple of well publicised fines would save people campaigning on forums and would be a damn sight more effective.

[Lilacbabe]

"Banning"

So what about us that do actually tidy up and dont leave a tip... Westport is great wee get away if you dont have the funds to go to other places...

Why should the idiots spoil it for the rest of us

Who the hell thought banning people was a good idea.
As for dog crap burying, that is more or less a non starter, if folk dont carry a couple of plastic pokes there is no way they will carry a spade. If I'm out with the dog and it does leave a deposit near a pathway,I will scoop it under a bush (working on the principal that it wont be there long) the good lady wife on the other hand feels naked without a wee bag of dog poo, even if she doesn't have the dog with her.
As for irresponsible camping, not all camping, doesn't the local authority have powers to prosecute offenders. Saying that do they not have the same powers for litter chuckers, poo leavers (dog not horse ).
A couple of well publicised fines would save people campaigning on forums and would be a damn sight more effective.

No one thought of "banning " people from the beach I just said apart from Banning them what can be done !?

At the beach there is no need for a spade to bury dog poo as its sand so easy enough to use your hands to dog a hole ( have you never done that when you were wee ) sorry couldnt resist saying that LOL and if you say that if you are out and the dog poos you scoop it under a bush well whats the difference between that and not picking it up if every one did that then there would be one hells own stink along the path that you go on Burying it at the beach is not the same as scooping it under a bush
1/ buried it wont stink the place out , will not be seen and will naturally brake up
2/scooping it under a bush it will still stink and when it dries up it could roll back down or be disturbed by a child ( yes they do go in to the most awkward places or another dog rummaging about in them) on to the path where you walk.

So shame on you mister be more like your wife and when you are out walking CARRY A BAG and pop in the poo then bin it .Wives ( women ) are allways right !!!


Yes and you are right fines would be good but you would have to police that and that would be difficult ,unless of course there was a permanant litter /poo monitor person living on the shore
Its a tough one but I feel very determined to try and get this sorted out as I have mentioned in a previous thread about wanting to get access on to the beach for my horses and with this going on at the moment it just might make people a bit wary about it . Even though we do have leagal rights to go on the beach if we want with the horses, It would I expect , if the litter problem is not sorted out ,make people start complaining ( even though we and our horses would not leave anything but hoof prints ........ ok maybe a wee occasional poo )

[gizmo]

As a rule of thumb, when a cat, sheep, fox, cow, badger or indeed bear sh**s in the woods, it very rarely hovers over a wee scented plastic bag. On my occasional walks with the dog I do not have to wade through droppings, mother nature seems to be on top of the job, she has been keeping the place quite tidy for a long time. If the afore-mentioned dog is caught short over the green the plasi-bag is deployed, halfway up Bengullion it is heaved away from the path ideally under a bush where it breaks down.
Burying faeces in the sand where the kids dig with their hands (I remember it well), Nah! I think I will stick with the bag if you dont mind. As in all things, common sense should be used.
As for littering and the other issues, I dont think having Council employees permanently based at Westport is needed (although if the job became available I would be interested). A visit every now and again with warnings and name taking and if that doesnt work prosecution, would be effective.

[Lilacbabe]

As a rule of thumb, when a cat, sheep, fox, cow, badger or indeed bear sh**s in the woods, it very rarely hovers over a wee scented plastic bag. On my occasional walks with the dog I do not have to wade through droppings, mother nature seems to be on top of the job, she has been keeping the place quite tidy for a long time. If the afore-mentioned dog is caught short over the green the plasi-bag is deployed, halfway up Bengullion it is heaved away from the path ideally under a bush where it breaks down.
Burying faeces in the sand where the kids dig with their hands (I remember it well), Nah! I think I will stick with the bag if you dont mind. As in all things, common sense should be used.
As for littering and the other issues, I dont think having Council employees permanently based at Westport is needed (although if the job became available I would be interested). A visit every now and again with warnings and name taking and if that doesnt work prosecution, would be effective.

Thats fair enough but you did say that if you were out for a walk that you would just scoop your dogs poop under a bush and there are walkers that use bengullion so really youshould be picking it up and puting it in a bag . Some poor soul could fall in the bushes on top of the afore mentioned poo Ewwwww and if you were caught doing this ( not much chance although if you are up Bengullion though ) you would be fined The law is for dog poo fouling not Cats ,cows , badgers etc now that was just a silly thing to say .
As you said burying the poo in the sand is a no no and I dont do it but leaving it under a bush on a pathway is much the same dont you think ?
You up for the job of litter moniter ?? LOL ok in the summer you could get a wee tan not so good on windy and wet days though , would you take a tent and build a fire
Seriously though it is a blinkin disgrace and fines and warnings if the offenders can be caught might make a wee bit of a difference though.
money making oppertancity there me thinks just like them car clampers , could go private and take a wee tent of my own and catch the buggers !!!

[gizmo]

Trying not to labour the point, as the topic was not purely poo related. Your comment, "The law is for dog poo fouling not Cats ,cows , badgers etc now that was just a silly thing to say ." my point was, its all crap, common sense in all things. is all that is needed, droppings under a whin bush which will break down safely is preferable to it hanging from the said bush in a pink nappy sack.

Camping at Westport is not a problem, I did it for years. SOME campers are a problem, I would have thought it not beyond the wit of the local authorities. Although I would be surprised if they could see beyond banning everyone from camping. Generally a slow knee jerk is their only reaction. Have you tried contacting them? If you do, try mentioning there are people who camp and dont leave their detrius in the sand.

[Ross]

I know of a few occasions when photos have been taken of the cars left in the car park over night, if theres a mess left the next day then pics passed onto the police to follow up the mess they have left behind..power to the people..mon now name and shame.

[bill]

Makes me laugh and cry in equal measures when I read a thread like this.Us oldies are always being derided for harking back to "the good auld days".Well I can tell you "in the good auld days",which to me as a boy was the late 50/60s, this problem never existed.Why?Because when we went to the shore we never had so much stuff to take,and what we did take we took away when we left.As for dog mess,I am certain there never was the volume of dogs then as there is now being walked on the beaches.

[Lilacbabe]

Trying not to labour the point, as the topic was not purely poo related. Your comment, "The law is for dog poo fouling not Cats ,cows , badgers etc now that was just a silly thing to say ." my point was, its all crap, common sense in all things. is all that is needed, droppings under a whin bush which will break down safely is preferable to it hanging from the said bush in a pink nappy sack.

Camping at Westport is not a problem, I did it for years. SOME campers are a problem, I would have thought it not beyond the wit of the local authorities. Although I would be surprised if they could see beyond banning everyone from camping. Generally a slow knee jerk is their only reaction. Have you tried contacting them? If you do, try mentioning there are people who camp and dont leave their detrius in the sand.

Yes I have contacted them and have had an email back and they are "looking in to it " so we will wait and see ,hopefully somehing will get done about it .

[LenMac]

Good point about the numbers of dogs Bill. Ownership has steadily risen in recent times. It's a problem everywhere and even owners who pick up often leave a mess on the pavement. They've banned dogs in Iran so perhaps it's time for A&B Council to get tough with offenders.

[Ross]

A+B council signs up at gate and in the dunes now banning camping and fires in the dunes, not sure how easy this is going to be to enforce

[Lilacbabe]

A+B council signs up at gate and in the dunes now banning camping and fires in the dunes, not sure how easy this is going to be to enforce

Yes seen this myself today but how long will these "paper " signs suck up with drawing pins last ?and they seem to have cleanned up the first few couple of campfirem left overs that were there.

The thing is though we dont want to stop people camping there ,just the mess that is left by either them or picknickers so I expect now there will be an uproar because camping is not allowed

Suppose its good that they have acted so quickly on this matter though could have maybe said that people could camp but had to re use old fire pits and clean up after . Maybe put a few bins on the beach that might help and also encourage dog walkers to pick up and bin so that the dont need to carry a poop bag all the way along their walk.

Good point about the numbers of dogs Bill. Ownership has steadily risen in recent times. It's a problem everywhere and even owners who pick up often leave a mess on the pavement. They've banned dogs in Iran so perhaps it's time for A&B Council to get tough with offenders.

As for dog mess dont see much of it at the beach Lenmac and are you saying they should bann dogs from the beach ? or town ? as for being tough on offenders ( I presume you mean those who dont pick up dog poo ? ) well a few have been fined but as the wardens are not allways there when its done people are getting away with it . The thing to do is if you see or know of anyone that is an offender go up to them and hand them a bag or tell them you are going to call the dog warden I have told a few people to pick up myself ( buisy body that I am )

[gizmo]

Camping at Westport is not a problem, I did it for years. SOME campers are a problem, I would have thought it not beyond the wit of the local authorities. Although I would be surprised if they could see beyond banning everyone from camping. Generally a slow knee jerk is their only reaction. Have you tried contacting them? If you do, try mentioning there are people who camp and dont leave their detrius in the sand.

Camping banned. Who'd have thought it. Dog culling on agenda for next meeting, I'm told.

[EMDEE]

On the subject of Westport beach, on a couple of occasions in the 1960s and 70s I caught sight of sand lizards. They are very elusive creatures, and the sightings I had were very brief and essentially consisted of a glimpse of a reptilian body then a tail disappearing into the undergrowth. Can anybody else confirm having seen any sand lizards at Westport of indeed any other beaches round about Kintyre? Does anybody have more recent sightings?

If they are in fact present here, then the NARRS Sand Lizard Monitoring Project does not seem to be aware of their existence at any site on the West Coast of Scotland, or in fact anywhere in Scotland.

http://www.narrs.org.uk/sandlizard_monitoring.htm

[MPR]

dont remeber lizards but remember sea turtles