Chorley park dog waste appeal

The operators of a popular Chorley park have appealed for consideration from dog owners after waste bags were left piled up around overflowing bins.

The charity that runs Cuerden Valley Park, near Clayton-le-Woods, has been unable to remove rubbish from across the site for the past week after the vehicle it uses broke down.

The organisation put messages on social media explaining the situation and asking visitors to take their dogs’ deposits home with them – but the plea went largely unheeded.

Bins have instead been left overflowing with bagged-up mutt muck – and then surrounded with even more.

Cuerden Valley Park Trust chief executive Andrew Suter told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “One of the bins had a mound of stuff around it – up to about two-and-a-half feet high and spreading out for around a metre – and then a pile of stuff on top of the bin as well.

“I’ve spoken to dog owners for many years and none of them have ever admitted to dropping bags and doing this sort of thing – but in the space of about four days, there’s an absolute mound appeared by every bin. It’s frustrating for them, I’m sure, but it’s also frustrating for the team here.”

With their regular vehicle still out of action, the park deployed a dumper truck on Monday and Tuesday to help clean up the mountainous messes – but Andrew said the process is neither simple nor sanitary for staff.

“Once the bags have been shoved in to the bins like this, when you try to take them out, they break – and you then have to re-bag everything.

“It took three-and-a-half hours to do one of the bins alone – somebody, with gloves on, had to pick out all that waste and re-bag it in order to take it away.

“It’s obviously incredibly unpleasant and we have had people made ill in the past dealing with waste like this,” Andrew added.

He told the LDRS that he hopes the usual emptying routine can be restarted over the next week, but is appealing for the public’s support in the meantime – and at other busy times of year.

“Ultimately, their dog’s waste is their responsibility until they can dispose of it appropriately. And while we want to be as supportive as we can, if a bin is full, they need to take that responsibility – and either please take it home or keep it with them until they get to one of the bins at the car parks, which are easier for us to empty.”

Chorley Council has no role in emptying the bins at the Cuerden Valley Park and the cost to the trust of dealing with waste comes to around £40,000 a year.