FEEDBACK - CLARENCE CITY COUNCIL PROPOSED DOG POLICY 11.4.2021

FEEDBACK - CLARENCE CITY COUNCIL PROPOSED DOG POLICY 11.4.2021

Rona Hollingsworth (49B Loatta Road, Rose Bay, Tasmania 7015)

Benefits of dog ownership

In its new dog exercise area proposal Clarence Council pays lip service to the well-known benefits of dog ownership for the physical and mental health of both dogs and owners. In the case of ANZAC Park this is particularly obvious since the venue has become an important and convivial community meeting place for dogs and their owners/carers. As well as speaking to happy dog owners I’ve chatted to people sitting in the Park who are no longer able to own a dog but sit smiling and laughing at the antics of dogs playing while reminiscing fondly about the ones they used to have. I have never seen a dog fight at the park – probably because these dogs have been well socialised in a friendly, off-lead, communal area.

The need for off-lead areas

I believe dogs and humans thrive best in areas with open space and nature around them. (That’s why I stopped wandering and working around the world in 1974 and settled here.) Off-lead areas allow dogs and people to socialise in fresh air and exercise at a pace that suits them. This cannot happen if they are always confined to concrete paths and the pace of their human controllers. There may occasionally be an overlooked dog poo but in my experience the vast majority of dog owners who use Clarence off-lead areas are responsible.

Clarence City Council’s proposal

The proposals to forbid dogs to run free at Anzac Park, Natone Hill, Waverley Park, Tangara Trail, plus additional beach restrictions, are very disappointing, especially since the intent appears to have been discovered by chance and proper consultation ignored until there was a public furore. All Clarence residents with registered dogs should have been informed in a timely manner, not as a result of public demand.

A new ANZAC Park dog area?

The area suggested, off Natone Street, is on too much of a slope to be suitable for elderly people using sticks or frames, it has a cycle track running through and includes a children’s play area with its required dog-free perimeter. The small amount of land left would be inadequate for the number of current users and hopeless for ball throwing without ball proof barriers around it.

New Cambridge dog area

Dogs should get at least two decent walks/runs per day. Two return trips to Cambridge each day for distant Clarence dog owners (if they have a car and can drive), would waste time and fuel, add to air pollution and CO2 emissions and increase congestion on the Tasman Highway.

Beaches

Tasmania’s climate ensures that where and when they are allowed, far more dogs and dog owners walk the beaches than non-owners.

Dog owners already have very limited use of beaches in summer, and fairly recently new signage indicates that ‘off-lead, under control’ dog walking is no longer allowed along the Tranmere waterfront track so that too has been deleted. (Has the bicycle lobby or some other group played a part in this?)

Finally, why are Clarence Councillors so against dogs?

And why target dogs when cats, allowed to run completely free, are a much greater menace to our environment? I sincerely hope you will reconsider your plan.