Belfast Council told "abusive" pet owners turning Giant's Ring into "dog toilet"

The manager of Lagan Valley Park has warned Belfast councillors the Giant's Ring is being turned into a “dog toilet” and sometimes "quite abusive" dog owners and their dogs are ruining the experience for visitors to the historic monument.

Lagan Valley Regional Park Manager Andy Bridge appeared before a Belfast City Council committee meeting this week to make an appeal for a communication drive and “a little bit of a stick” to address the growing problem of dog walkers with their pets running freely across one of the most popular parts of Northern Ireland's only national park.

Dr Bridge suggested the problem has reached such a level that the Giant’s Ring might have to be closed for six months to a year away from the public for the site “to recover”.

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The Neolithic Giant's Ring was built around 2700 BC and predates the Egyptian pyramids. The original purpose of the monument was as a meeting place or memorial for the dead.

It is part of Lagan Valley Regional Park and is near Shaw’s Bridge which crosses the River Lagan. The site is surrounded by public parkland and some privately owned farmland.

It has been a popular site for dog owners for decades and this popularity has only increased in recent years since the coronavirus epidemic.

At the June meeting of the People and Communities Committee at City Hall, Dr Bridge told councillors: “We facilitate a stakeholder group involving local residents, those who are involved in the management of the site such the ( Stormont ) Historic Environment Division and Belfast City Council, some of the private landowners, and the PSNI.

“Issues from their meetings have been coming to our management and board meetings, and it has been suggested we bring them to a broader committee.”

He said there were two areas of concern, around dogs and around access.

He said: “The site itself has seen a huge increase in the amount of people using it for exercising dogs, and in particular (using it) as a large dog toilet. It is bringing us quite a lot of complaints, and a lot of stakeholders are concerned that this has gotten out of hand.

“It is a site with one of the biggest footfalls in the area in terms of people using it for that reason. As it is an enclosed space people tend to feel they can let the dogs off the lead and just let them run. The issues that is causing are dog faeces around the site and erosion on the archaeological site itself.”

He said: “The dogs are not under control - they are let off, are digging into the monument and are ruining archaeology that is best kept preserved.

“The site is bordered by farmland and last year a sheep was attacked and killed by a dog that was off the lead, and later last year a child was attacked by a dog. Approaching people is quite difficult and challenging for ranger staff, ourselves and HED, as the dog owners can be quite abusive.

“They can be intimidating and even threatening if they are challenged, and not just by staff but other visiting members of the public, or tourists that just want to learn a little bit about the archaeology.”

He said: “By the time an incident is responded to (with the dog warden) it is often too late, and there is a broader issue of increased use.

“In partnership with HED there has been a lot of signage put on the site, but it hasn’t been that effective. Those people who are very inconsiderate of other people would not pay attention to the signs, and some lift the signs and throw them away.”

He added the access lanes to the site had become difficult to negotiate unless a person is “very capable”. He said plant overgrowth had made lanes difficult to access.

He added: “We know there are no quick fixes for this, but we wanted to bring it to your attention so you were aware. Some of the solutions we have (devised) with the stakeholders and management team involve a broader comms campaign to try to encourage more responsible dog users across all sites.

“It perhaps needs a little bit of a stick in terms of enforcement. Perhaps it would be possible to get dog wardens out more regularly, who instead of being reactive are a bit more long term and proactive in that respect.

“Another thing to consider is for HED to completely close the site six months of the year, or maybe a whole year to give it just a chance to recover.”

None of the elected members in the chamber raised any questions of Dr Bridge.

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