Epworth Town Council elects Chair

Coun Bob Fish was elected as Chairman of the town council, with former Chair Don Stewart as his deputy.

There was no public representation at the meeting, that was attended by 10 town councillors.

One issue that was dealt with at the meeting was that of dog fouling on the footpath between Station Road and West End at Epworth.

Coun Ros Whittaker said: “This is a bigger problem than people realise. Although Epworth is a rural area, the landscape is mainly farmers’ fields that people can not walk across so they must keep to footpaths and bridleways. These are used by many dog walkers and by people who like to get out and walk by themselves.

“There is actually not as much accessible public open space as there might be in Scunthorpe, where there are vast park areas.

“Here in Epworth we only have Kings Head Croft and the Thurlow as open space for the public.

“The problem is, we cannot place dog bins along bridleways unless they are near to the entrance, as North Lincolnshire Council willnot travel down pathways to empty them.”

The town council will remind people constantly that footpaths and bridleways should not be soiled, said Mrs Whittaker, and it is possible that another dog bin may be placed in the Station Road area.

“If we can somehow make people more aware that pathways should be kept clean, and to be more thoughtful generally, then that will help,” she added.

The town council studied then passed back a draft of the Local Development Framework plan to North Lincolnshire planners, with some minor queries about boundaries.