Waterhall plans go ahead as council rejects petition

Brighton and Hove City Council has introduced cattle to graze at the disused Waterhall golf course, near Withdene.

It is understood that the animals will remain behind fencing until later in the year, but will soon be free to roam the entire site – meaning dog-walkers will need to keep their pets on a lead.

Cattle in are now at the site

Brighton Dogwatch submitted a petition to keep the cattle behind fencing to the Environment, Transport and Sustainability committee at its meeting last week.

It was signed by 1,545 people overall.

The petition and its plans were rejected by the city council, who said that rewilding targets will not be met with the current number of dogs making use of the site.

“In rewilding Waterhall, councillors sought to encourage public accesses, and are in the process of designating the site as statutory open access,” a city council spokesman said.

“This does however require dogs to be kept on leads during the bird nesting season and around livestock, in recognition of the impact they can have on them.

“Dogs also impact other wildlife – in particular, cold-blooded animals. Frequent disturbance impacts on their ability to hunt and reproduce and leads to a decline in numbers.

“Disturbance by off-lead dogs can often affect other users of the site, with reports of stolen volunteers’ lunches and dogs entering the building, and urinating on the furniture.

“The council has funding from the National Heritage Lottery fund for an education ranger and a countryside stewardship to provide school visits to the site. These are not feasible with large numbers of off-lead dogs.”

Plans would see an end to dogs running free

Nick Maylon, who is leading Brighton Dogwatch’s campaign, said that he was frustrated with the city council’s decision not to consider fencing at the 222-acre site.

“Most people will go somewhere else. We reckon there will be hundreds of thousands of miles more driven every year if we’re forced out from this area,” he said.

“And that’s terrible for the environment, terrible for ecology, and it’s also very expensive for everybody.”

Despite the new law that would see dogs at Waterhall kept on their leads, Nick said that people may continue to carry on as they are.

“There will be a few people who decide to break the law,” he said.

“But the vast majority of people will choose to travel elsewhere and cause lots of environmental damage by doing that.

“We’re continuing to petition the council over the summer, and the cattle will be in a small area until around September.

“After that, it’s then where they move to.”

The council’s plans mean cattle will be able to roam the site, but will be fitted with collars allowing dog walkers to track them via an app.