Recent press cutting from LGA First : First Magazine – LGA

Mrs Helen Lockwood, Executive Director Economy, Skills & Neighbourhoods, Mrs Carol Brown, Assistant Executive Director – Environment

Dear Mrs Lockwood & Mrs Brown,

I am sure you will recall that I wrote to you in December 2015 about Poowatch, a free web app for smartphones, tablets and personal computers.

Poo Watch was launched in November 2015 in Worcester to help clean up the city’s streets and to shame irresponsible dog-owners to clear up after their pets. There has recently been further positive publicity in the local government press – attached – and I still believe this technology could be of great use in helping Oldham Council tackle this blight in our borough, particularly in hot spots such as Dunwood Park in my own ward.

To reiterate the contents of my first letter, through the Poowatch app, Worcester residents can record any dog litter they spot in the city. The information they provide will help identify dog litter hotspots so action can be targeted in areas of greatest need.

The good thing with this approach is that the public can be the Council’s eyes and ears in the community, and they are reporting real incidents in real time to enable prompt action to be taken. This app gives residents the ability to help change the behaviour of irresponsible dog owners and to contribute to both a more co-operative and a cleaner borough.

The new web app has been jointly developed by the Safer Worcester Partnership, the Duckworth Worcestershire Trust (DWT) and Worcester City Council with funding from West Mercia’s Police and Crime Commissioner. It is free to access and uses GPS locaters to provide a simple and easy way for people to report dog mess and will help create an interactive map of the city showing the worst affected areas. It also shows the nearest poo bin to the location of the person accessing the app.

As this is free there is no deterrent to residents who are tech savvy from accessing it and using it. As you will know from complaints relayed to you, Councillors are constantly approached by constituents who are enraged by seeing dog poo on our pavements and who demand real action now. Poowatch allows them to be part of that action and make a difference rather than simply registering a complaint.

I would therefore like to ask you for an update as to where this authority is at in terms of introducing Poowatch to the Oldham Borough.

I have enclosed a recent article from First Magazine from the LGA.

I shall look forward to receiving your reply.

Yours sincerely

Howard Sykes

CC Cllr Fida Hussain