Waipā District Council is reviewing its dog control policy and bylaw. Photo / Peter Meecham
Waipā District Council is reviewing its dog control policy and bylaw. Photo / Peter Meecham
Waipā District Council is letting the dogs out as the new Dog Control Policy and Bylaw suggests eight new exercise areas for the district’s 9500 furry friends.
The council has released a new draft bylaw that will open for public feedback on May 12 and also includes the controversial proposalto restrict dog access at Kakepuku maunga.
Council’s district growth and regulatory group manager Wayne Allan said earlier that community feedback last year as part of an early engagement process played a key role in drafting the revised policy and bylaw.
“People feel strongly but there will be no decisions made until after the community has had its say during the formal public consultation process,” he said.
The proposal to restrict dogs at Kakepuku maunga was sparked by long-standing concerns from mana whenua over sacred sites and urupā on the maunga, as well as concerns over public safety and the potential effects on pest control, including the danger posed to dogs by poison.
Much of the maunga is managed by the Department of Conservation (DoC) and already dogs are not permitted in that area without a permit. The council manages the remaining lower part of the mountain where dogs are allowed on-leash.
“We’re proposing dogs only be allowed up to the water tanks area, and that they must be on a leash,” Allan says.
The council also proposes new exercise areas in Cambridge and at Pekerau Reserve in Te Awamutu, two new areas in Waipuke Park in Maungatautari and to move one at Ōhaupō Memorial Park.
Waipā District Council proposes to restrict dogs at Kakepuku maunga.
Dogs will be able to run free at any time in four of the proposed five new exercise areas in Cambridge, with only The Oval in Cambridge Park requiring dogs to be on a leash between 8am and 8pm.
Dogs will continue to be allowed at Cambridge’s Lake Te Koo Utu but must be on a leash between 8am and 8pm. The same rule is proposed for War Memorial Park in Te Awamutu.
“Some people would like dogs prohibited from these areas – not everyone likes dogs. But many people want to be able to walk their dogs around the lake and at the park and do so safely,” Allan says.
“This proposal allows them to still do that, but dogs will need to be leashed and under control so everyone can enjoy those spaces.”
Formal consultation opens next Friday, May 12, and will run for four weeks.
