FURIOUS dog owners snapped at the heels of council officers at a meeting to discuss Ryde’s beach ban on dogs.
Owners packed a public meeting to voice support for the right to responsibly roam Ryde Sands with their dogs.
The meeting was called by Ryde Town Council at the end of consultation, organised by the Isle of Wight Council, to seek ideas to amend its beach ban order. It is set to be approved in time for the summer.
Cllr Tim Wakeley said people’s faith in consultation would be undermined by the fact consultation into Ryde’s new banning order resulted in no amendments being made.
Isle of Wight Council community safety operations manager Simon Dennis confirmed the Ryde Sands dog control area would stretch from the boundary wall of Ryde Harbour and from Appley Tower, to cover all sand to low water mark.
It would replace the current 100-metre strip of beach and zones at Puckpool Beach and St Thomas’s Slip, to the west of the pier.
He said without the dog ban — which was part of orders affecting just five per cent of the Island’s 55 miles of beaches — Ryde Sands would be precluded from having prestigious Blue Flag status.
He said the current order was largely unenforceable because it lacked clarity, resulting in just one prosecution last year.
Dog owner Nick Ash said the new order would also be unenforceable because owners and wardens would have to decide where a line should be drawn in the sand.
Owners’ spokesman Pat Green said only four per cent of Islanders supported banning orders, which would spell disaster to the tourist industry.
Councillors called for signs with land and sea posts to clearly mark the area.
Mr Dennis said wardens would first advise and only prosecute repeat offenders.
Reporter: richardw@iwcpmail.co.uk