Electric fencing along footpath

Fri 25 May 2018, 11:40

Sadly not all residents of Charlbury are as upstanding as most of those of you who have commented here.

The CCTV was installed on suggestion of the police last year when firstly my new fencing was deliberately broken down. Then the Badgers were poisoned in the set the other side of the reserve and Wildlife police officer attended (I posted on here at the time) sadly too late for the Badgers. I also have problems with youngsters going through in middle of the night and causing petty damage.

There are people who steadfastly refuse to put there dogs on a lead and in fact I was actually told by one resident that their dog could not read. There is also a black Alsatian X dog which is clearly let out often to roam and it clears the gates at both ends and runs through the garden out on to the road, but have never managed to catch it to read the dog tag, it wears a read collar. The electric fencing is as I said previously to protect the sheep from attack.

I also have problems with dog mess and litter which I have to clear every day. Dog poo can cause problems for the sheep as can the poo bags filled with poo that people either hang in my trees or throw in the field.

Local youth seem to think it is amusing to push the gates open as far as they can and force them to stay open, even when I have been working on my vegetable garden and asked them to close the gate. I just get a mouthful of abuse and have to shut the gate myself. If I tighten the springs then someone might get their hands or fingers shut in the gates

The Field Officer walked the route for me again last year, the fencing was in place then and it is all in order and wide enough, for info the path has to be three feet wide.

My initial hope was that I could take down all the fencing and allow sheep to use the whole field and for walkers to go through with their dogs on the lead, sadly although the majority of walkers are very pleasant and stop and talk, there are some who just say they will not comply or allow their dogs to roam free.

Hopefully this has answered all the queries, but if not then please contact me directly and I will be more than happy to address your concern.