Keswick residents have kicked up a stink over the unsavoury smells lingering in town centre streets after an influx of four-legged friends this summer.
As the UK’s dog-friendliest destination, and proud of it, residents have complained that it has been left smelling somewhat doggy in a situation not helped by a lack of rain and the muggy temperatures of late.
In a hard-hitting call to action on our letters page this week, Faith Watterson, a Keswick resident of 50 years, is among those calling for a clean-up; being of a generation when pavements were “washed daily” by council workers or scrubbed by shopkeepers.
She said: “Our streets stink, yes stink, of dog urine.”
Members of Keswick Town Council too say they have been made aware of the pungent pong of pooches.
Mayor Alan Dunn said: “I have noticed these whiffs occasionally which I can hardly describe as pleasant but they certainly wouldn’t deter me from walking anywhere in the town.
“Sadly, it is the price Keswick pays for being the most dog friendly town in the universe.”
Keswick Community Asset Company, a not-for-profit firm, uses revenue generated from usage of the town’s toilets to better the community.
It would usually hire a firm to spray shop fronts with sweet-smelling sanitiser twice a year.
However, it reports that the usual contractor has been unavailable recently, which may also have contributed to the persisting nasty niff picked up by some.
Tony Lywood, chair of Keswick Community Asset Company, said that the organisation was actively searching for another contractor and was willing to help towards sanitation.
However he did urge Allerdale Borough Council to step up its responsibilities considering the millions residents are charged every year in council tax and the public health conatations of the problem.
He also reminded residents and business owners of their own responsibilities to keeping Keswick clean. “The truth is, if there is dog pee on your shop front, the shopkeepers should really be cleaning it,” said Cllr Lywood.
“Same goes for if it is on the front of your house.”
In response, a council spokesman said they were not aware that any complaints had been made directly to Allerdale about the smell.
The council says Keswick has “priority status” for street cleaning which takes place two to three times a week.
The spokesman did not elaborate on whether Allerdale has adequate resources to tackle the problem.
At the heart of the issue is Keswick’s exemplary dog-friendly credentials with councillors Dunn and Cllr Lywood adding that the prolonged dry and hot weather was probably behind complaints.
To report issues surrounding sanitation and dog mess, visit www.allerdale.gov.uk/en/report
