Officers want every Dorset dog rule kept from January 2027 after 5,013 people replied. Seatown Beach split 282 to 280, and the £100 fixed penalty stays.
Dorset Council officers have recommended keeping every existing dog restriction on the county’s beaches for another three years. That includes the summer ban that runs from 1 May to 30 September.
The recommendation goes to councillors on Thursday 1 October. It follows a consultation that drew 5,013 responses, and it keeps the restriction at Seatown Beach even though slightly more people voted to remove it than to keep it.
The detail is in the officers’ report to the Place and Resources Overview Committee. The council’s own news release of 25 September gave the response total but not the beach by beach results.
Seatown: 282 to remove, 280 to keep
Seatown Beach at Chideock was the one place where the vote went against the restriction. Of 568 people who answered, 282 wanted the summer ban removed and 280 wanted it kept. Six did not know. The figures are in the consultation report.
Officers still recommend keeping it. Their report says the landowner, Wraxall Estate, asked for the restriction to stay, and that residents who responded were more likely to support it.
The split follows dog ownership almost exactly. Among dog owners at Seatown, 85% wanted the ban removed. Among people without a dog, 90.5% wanted it kept.
How each beach voted
Every other summer beach ban had more support than opposition, but none by a wide margin.
| Beach | Keep the summer ban | Remove it |
|---|---|---|
| Lyme Regis, Front Beach | 56.7% (935) | 42.9% (708) |
| Weymouth, exercise area to Greenhill groyne | 55.2% (1,173) | 41.4% (879) |
| Swanage, Central Beach | 53.2% (644) | 45.2% (547) |
| Charmouth, West Beach | 53.0% (385) | 46.4% (337) |
| West Bay, East Beach | 53.0% (556) | 45.6% (478) |
| West Bay, West Beach | 51.9% (539) | 47.5% (493) |
| Chideock, Seatown Beach | 49.3% (280) | 49.7% (282) |
The dates: 44% for the current period
The council asked whether the ban should keep running from 1 May to 30 September. The current dates were the most popular single answer, but not a majority:
- 44% wanted the current period kept
- 35% wanted a set period with different dates or times
- 20% wanted no restriction
- 1% did not know
Dorset Police supported a shorter period, from 1 May to the end of the school holidays. Others asked for dogs to be allowed in the mornings and evenings.
Officers recommend no change. Their report says early and late access would risk more fouling and dogs staying on past the permitted time. It adds that several town and parish councils rake the beaches by machine in the early morning. It also notes that Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council and East Devon District Council both ban dogs throughout the same period.
A Change.org petition asking for dogs to be allowed back from 1 September has 7,104 signatures. The report acknowledges it but describes it as generic, because it covers beaches in Dorset and Hampshire.
Weymouth and Lyme Regis
In Weymouth, 52.8% wanted to keep the year-round dog exercise area at the Pavilion end as it is, and 46.4% wanted a change. Of those who wanted change, 54.3% favoured a bigger exercise area. Officers recommend keeping the current arrangement.
The report says Weymouth Town Council did not submit a formal response. Councillors chose to reply as individuals, and one did.
Lyme Regis is where the council gets most of its beach complaints. Since 2024 it has received between 30 and 50 complaints or enquiries a year about the order at beaches, most of them about Front Beach. Lyme Regis Town Council told the consultation it “completely” opposes letting dogs on in the mornings or evenings in summer.
Front Beach will continue to have no winter restriction. That was backed by 61.6%, although the town council wanted dogs on leads there in winter.
What stays the same away from the beach
The draft order also keeps the lead rules, which had much stronger support:
- dogs on a lead when an authorised officer directs it: 96%
- dogs on leads in council car parks: 92%
- dogs on leads in cemeteries and churchyards: 91%
- a maximum lead length of two metres: 83%
- dogs on leads within five metres of marked sports pitches: 83%
- dogs on leads in formal public gardens: 81%
- dogs on leads on Weymouth Esplanade: 70%
- dogs on leads on the Rodwell Trail, Weymouth: 57%
Dogs remain banned from fenced play areas, tennis courts, skate parks, bowling greens and marked sports pitches.
What it means for you
- Nothing changes before 1 January 2027. The draft order would then run for three years, to 31 December 2029.
- The summer beach ban ends for this year on 30 September. Dogs are allowed back on the listed beaches from 1 October, as now.
- The fixed penalty is £100, reduced to £75 if paid within 14 days. The maximum fine on conviction is level 3 on the standard scale.
- Picking up is required everywhere. The order applies to all open land the public can use, except Forestry Commission land. Not having a bag is not accepted as an excuse.
- Assistance dogs are exempt from the exclusion areas when working.
- Do not expect regular patrols. The report says routine patrols for the order are “generally considered a lower operational priority” unless there are complaints. Officers say they educate first and issue a penalty only for refusal, repeat offences or fouling.
What happens next
The Place and Resources Overview Committee meets at 3pm on Thursday 1 October. It can comment and ask for changes. Cabinet makes the decision on 10 November.
There is a limit on what councillors can change. The report says only options that were in the consultation can go into the order. Anything else would need a new consultation.
Who replied
The report says 62% of respondents were dog owners and 69% were female. Two thirds were aged 50 or over. Of the 4,557 responses that could be mapped by postcode, 3,047 came from the Dorset area.
Sources
- Dorset Council: Draft Dog Related Public Spaces Order 2027 and associated consultation report, report to the Place and Resources Overview Committee, 1 October 2026, for the recommendations, the complaint numbers, the petition, the enforcement approach and the Cabinet date.
- Appendix A: Dog-related PSPO Public Consultation Response Report 2026 for the vote counts at each beach and the split by dog ownership.
- Appendix B: draft Dog-related Public Spaces Protection Order 2027 for the beaches and areas covered, the exemptions and the penalty.
- Dorset Council: more than 5,000 people help shape Dorset’s new dog control rules, 25 September 2026.
Also on The Dorset Post: things to do in Dorset and parking in Dorset.
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