YOUR correspondent Lynne J Lea suggests the city council should be using its hi-tech CCTV system to target people allowing their dogs to foul pavements (June 18).
However, while City of York Council is committed to addressing this thoughtless and anti-social behaviour and has successfully done so through a number of campaigns during recent years, we do not believe that using the CCTV system towards this end would be appropriate.
The CCTV system is there to detect major crimes and protect individuals from crime. Our monitoring of the system is governed by very strict Government guidelines, which prevent us from homing in on citizens unless there is a very strong suspicion that someone is committing, or is planning, to commit a serious criminal act.
The police and ourselves have used the city's CCTV network successfully during the past few years and the CCTV network has helped cut crime by 70 per cent in city centre car parks by acting as a deterrent and a source of evidence against criminals.
As your readers maybe aware, we are committed to the continuing development of the system but do not believe it should be providing solutions to every problem we encounter on the city's streets.
Peter Evely,
Head of highway regulation,
City of York Council,
St Leonard's Place,
York.
...READING Lynne Lea's letter about dog fouling on Lendal Bridge, I was pleased that she stated York city centre was relatively free of dog mess. It's only horse mess that is the problem!
Take a stroll down Blake Street, Davygate, Church Street and Colliergate anytime between 11am and 6pm and you are guaranteed to find at least a couple of piles of fresh, smelly horse mess.
The street sweepers sweep the mess up as they come to it.
But they cannot be expected to patrol these four streets all day long; and why should they?
If a dog owner can be prosecuted for allowing their dog to foul then surely the same should apply to a horse owner, so much so if the owner is using his horse as a business.
Other tourist towns have horses trotting down the streets but they have nappies on, why can't York horses have them?
One thing I have noticed, the horses never seem to leave a mess at their stabling point in Duncombe Place.
PR Willey,
Burnholme Drive,
York.
Updated: 10:24 Monday, June 24, 2002
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