Wroughton & Wichelstowe Parish Council has thrown its full weight behind a campaign to make the parish a "Poo Free Parish", in a statement posted to social media this week. The initiative, which has been gathering support since the summer, asks dog owners to clean up after their pets in parks, verges and playing fields across the area.
Among those publicly backing the campaign are the Wroughton and Wichelstowe Rockets, an under-11s football team, and volunteers from community group Vision 4 Wroughton. The council thanked both groups by name, saying dog mess on green spaces causes particular problems for "young footballers", a sentence that will not be unfamiliar to anyone who has ever gone in for a slide tackle in Wroughton and come up smelling of regret.
It is understood the campaign currently consists of a social media post, some goodwill, and an unspecified number of bags. A council spokesperson said momentum was building, though declined to say whether momentum could be independently verified or simply inferred from the state of the recreation ground.
Plans are reportedly being discussed for a formal "Poo Free" status, awarded to parishes that can demonstrate sustained cleanliness over a rolling period, in the manner of a hygiene rating but for the whole outdoors. There is talk of a certificate. There is not, as yet, talk of a trophy, though sources close to the under-11s say a trophy would "really help with buy in".
"I'm not one to gossip," said Brenda Pask, 72, of Old Town, who has lived there since before it was old, "but I hear there's already one dog on Shaw Ridge who's been named and shamed on the parish Facebook, not by name, obviously, more by description, and everyone knows exactly which one it is. In my day you just watched where you were walking and said nothing. Nobody needed a campaign. Ron used to say a man who can't spot it in daylight deserves what he gets on his shoe."
Gary Tench, Area Manager at Tench Paper Solutions in Westlea, said the campaign had clear crossover with the workplace. "It's a culture change initiative, basically. You identify the mess, you name the team dealing with it, and you give the kids ownership so it sticks. We did something similar with the recycling bins in the car park. Took months. Julie still won't talk about the blue bin incident. I've actually written a song about accountability, it's called Pick It Up, Own It, I'll bring the demo to the next residents meeting if that's appropriate."
The parish council has urged all dog walkers to act responsibly ahead of any formal rollout of the scheme. The under-11 Rockets, for their part, are said to remain fully focused on the campaign, and on Saturday's fixture, in that order. The recreation ground itself was unavailable for comment, though it did look, by all accounts, considerably better than usual.