A new group in Burnham-On-Sea that’s been formed to tackle dog fouling along the town’s beach and seafront has held its first clean-up operation this week.
The ‘Burnham Pooper Troopers’, comprising of a group of community volunteers, collected 5lbs of dog waste during Monday’s clean-up between the jetty and Sailing Club.
Harriet Yates-Smith, who is overseeing the group while running the Litter Free Coast and Sea community campaign, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “We had a good turnout for our first weekly patrol with plenty of support for what we are doing.”
“The ‘Burnham Pooper Troopers’ have now started their weekly patrols, and regular updates will be given to Tina Kick, Sedgemoor District Council’s dog warden to allow her to target hot spots and take action where necessary.”
She added: “The group is full of passionate, responsible dog owners who don’t want to see poo on their beach or seafront anymore.”
Harriet is trying to reduce Burnham’s marine litter and improve the bathing water quality by encouraging people to consider and reduce their own impacts on water quality through targeted campaigns, events and education.
Burnham’s popular beach suffered a ‘poor’ rating from the EU after stricter new bathing water quality standards came into force.
Work is also ongoing by Wessex Water, Sedgemoor District Council and the Environment Agency to improve the quality of the sea water.
