Council starts from scratch with new dog bylaw

Dog-owners take to the Opua waterfront in protest at an earlier version of the Far North District Council's dog bylaw. Photo / Ruth Lawton

The Far North District Council is taking another bite at a controversial dog bylaw by putting an entirely rewritten version out for public consultation.

At a meeting in Kaikohe on Thursday councillors voted unanimously to accept the proposed Dog Management Policy and Bylaw 2018.

An earlier attempt to update the bylaw in 2016 sparked howls of protest from dog owners, who formed a lobby group called Bay of Islands Watchdogs.

While the latest version is less restrictive than the 2016 proposal, Far North Mayor John Carter seemed resigned to more division on the issue of dogs versus wildlife.

"The chance of this getting 100 per cent agreement is zero. If we achieve 80 per cent we'll have done particularly well," he said.

Given previous controversy the standard one-month consultation period is likely to be extended to two months.

Deputy Mayor Tania McInnes also had reservations, saying the new proposal had "swung quite a way back the other way" [in favour of dogs].

"We need to be mindful that we have some precious flora and fauna. We have to make sure that not only people are protected but also our wildlife," she said.

Watchdogs spokeswoman Leonie Excel welcomed the council's U-turn on an earlier refusal to go back to the drawing board.

"I think it's great that it's going back for consultation, that's what we lobbied for in the first place."

While the new proposal was a "better, clearer document" she still believed it over-legislated dog owners.

In particular she was unhappy with an extension of the period in which dogs are excluded from some popular beaches between 9am and 6pm. In the current bylaw that period runs from December to the end of February, while the new version proposes extending that to the end of March.

The 2018 proposal also made all of Taupo Bay prohibited or on-leash, but she said at least part of the beach, where wildlife was not in danger, should be set aside for off-leash access.

"It goes without saying dogs shouldn't be allowed on beaches where dotterels are present and they shouldn't be allowed to wander uncontrolled on any beaches."

The group would now consult its members, other dog owners and conservation experts before drafting its submission, Excel said.

Conservation group Bay Bush Action has yet to study the proposed new bylaw in detail.

However, its members are likely to welcome proposals to ban dogs from the shorebird hotspots of Te Haumi, near Paihia, and the shore between Waitangi Bridge and the Treaty Grounds.

Consultation details have yet to be confirmed but it is likely to start on July 30 and run until September 24.

The new proposal retains the two-dog limit in urban areas of the current bylaw and the requirement that dogs be on a leash on public footpaths.