Dear Editor
Residents of Great Denham may recall several weeks ago a call and shout-out for help was posted from a Great Denham family whose beloved dog went missing.
It is a tragedy that the family pet was found after two weeks of searching, in a pond on the former golf course trapped in the quagmire created by the mud.
On Saturday (10 December), I walked down the public footpath and saw three young boys playing on the ice formed on top of the very same pond.
This and other ponds on the former golf course have turned into quagmires which will trap anyone entering. I told the boys of the danger of the mud below the thin surface of ice and thankfully they left the pond and went off back home.
Please, please parents of children in Great Denham, Queens Park and Biddenham warn your children of these dangerous ponds. I have written to the landowners’ agents and informed them of the issues and dangers posed by the lack of maintenance to these ponds.
I wrote: “I wanted to bring to your attention the recent death of a much-loved family pet in one of the ponds on the former golf course, discovered after a two-week search.
“This pond is close to footpath five crossing the land and since the closure of the course, no maintenance or care has been carried out on the ponds.
“As no water is passed between the ponds (balancing) some of them have become dangerous quagmires. As they are now mostly mud and reeds, they present a real danger to animals, but the more chilling concern is to the safety of young children who may venture onto this wide-open landscape.
“As the land sits in the middle of a housing development I wanted to know the landowners’ intentions regarding this issue. What safety precautions will you take?
“There aren’t any signs, barriers, or gates that tell people that the land is privately owned and therefore trespasser would not know that they were trespassing (very young children and dogs can’t read). I would appreciate your response and an outline of any actions you would put in place to avoid further tragedies taking place on the land.”
Agents’ response: “Like its owner, a dog should remain on the line of the path to avoid trespass. By law this doesn’t mean on the lead but under close control, which sadly this dog was not. Information on the rights of way have been provided to the Parish Council (PC) to share and are available to everyone via OS maps etc.
“Over the last couple of years, with all the information released through the PC and press articles etc the message has been very consistent. People can use the footpaths but remain on them and dogs must be under close control, especially with sheep grazing.”
The response was as expected obfuscating any moral or community focus! Please warn all children of these dangers.
Jim Weir
Kempston Rural Ward Councillor (Great Denham, Turvey, Stagsden, Kempston Rural)
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