A proposed bylaw change could make it easier to take dogs onto Far North beaches next winter.
The Far North District Council is reviewing its 10-year-old Dog Control Bylaw with Mayor John Carter saying the aim is to strike a balance between dog owners' desires to exercise their pets in public and the council's duty to make sure dogs don't put people, livestock or wildlife in danger.
The Government had also ordered councils to take a tougher line on dangerous dogs.
The current bylaw bans dogs from many popular Far North beaches from 9am-6pm in summer when beaches are busy and shorebirds are nesting. It also bans dogs during the same hours on statutory holidays year-round, and requires dogs to be on a leash at all other times at Coopers Beach, Cable Bay, Taipa, Hihi, Opononi/Omapere, Taupo Bay, Paihia/Te Haumi, Russell and Opito Bay.
The proposed new bylaw would keep the summer restrictions but allow dogs off the leash from March to November at all beaches except Russell and Tauranga Bay. It would also lift the daytime dog ban during statutory holidays outside summer.