Warnock expresses ire over lingering dog fouling concerns along Longford walkways

Independent Cllr Gerry Warnock received the backing of elected members at last week’s meeting of Longford Municipal District to install dog pooping bins at either end of Longford’s Royal Canal walkway.

Cllr Warnock said he initially raised the matter almost 12 months ago and was now revisiting an issue which had previously been the subject of a broader information campaign to change public behaviour.

“After several months of this it was my belief that it didn’t alleviate the issue to a level that didn’t warrant further intervention in the way of dog poop bins,” he said.

Senior executive officer Lorraine McKee replied by saying the council’s enforcement section would conduct a review and embark upon a communication led campaign on social media.

However, Cllr Warnock said that particular approach had been conducted and argued for two bins to be located at Churchland Bridge and a gate on the Longford town end of the canal as a matter of urgency.

“We need to expedite this,” he said.

“We have been waiting long enough and this has been procrastinated upon for over a year now.

“The decision was taken at the SPC (Strategic Policy Committee) that these softer measures were not appropriate and did not to any large degree resolve the issue of dog pooping along that stretch of walkway,” Cllr Warnock concluded.