Otter dog ban debate looms

A CONTROVERSIAL bid to ban dogs from an Ottery field is set to come to a climax this evening.

A CONTROVERSIAL bid to ban dogs from an Ottery field is set to come to a climax this evening.

Environmental health bosses have told East Devon District Council's (EDDC) portfolio holder for communities, Jill Elson, to determine if dogs should be banned from Winters Lane playing field, and, whether a 20-meter strip should be created there for the animals as a compromise.

Debate that has long raged in the town over the ban has, in recent months, extended to where the proposed 'dog-walking zone' should be situated.

EDDC's executive board will on Wednesday (Ocotber 7) consider a suggestion to place it at the Oak Close end of the field. The estimated cost of putting such an area in place could be as much as �3,500, and EDDC has not set any cash aside for the project.

However, members have also been told to consider whether to ban dogs from the entire field, or, whether the ban is needed at all.

Read a full account of the meeting in next Friday's Ottery Herald.