Batemans Bay dog lovers have an opportunity to comment on plans for a new dog park in the area.
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Why are we giving them an option they don’t want?
- Patrick McGinlay
However, a proposal to site the park at Mundarra Way, Surfside, came as a surprise to dog-park advocates who attended the ordinary meeting of the Eurobodalla Shire Council, on June 13.
Dog park advocate Coral Anderson said everyone she had spoken to preferred the park be at Corrigans Reserve, one of three sites listed in the agenda.
“On the day only Mundarra was put up for vote,” Ms Anderson said.
The change to a single site was made by Councillor Jack Tait prior to the meeting; a change supported by Cr Lindsay Brown.
“I didn’t see it as anything other than an appropriate,” Cr Brown said.
“I was very keen for the community to be focused on one particular option … council are trying to avoid division by getting the community to comment.”
Not all councillors agreed, and Cr Patrick McGinlay called for a division with votes formally recorded: He and Anthony Mayne voted against the motion, having previously foreshadowed a change of location should the vote fail. It didn’t.
“My first action was to try and change the motions, substitute Corrigans Reserve for Mundarra Way,” Cr McGinlay said.
“Given 1500 people had signed a petition and several speakers plus a dozen written submissions were in support of Corrigans, why are we giving them an option they don’t want?” Cr McGinlay asked.
The draft plan also recommends a staged approach, with the dog park, wherever the location, to be ‘on-leash’ initially.
The Eurobodalla Shire Council director of community arts and recreation Kathy Arthur said the motion put up in December 2016 by Cr Mayne directed this staged approach, with off-leash facility dependent on fencing, as funding became available.
Ms Anderson said she was surprised by the council’s costings for the fencing.
“They don’t correlate with the quote I was given by a dog fencing expert, which was well under $20, 000. That is for everything – materials and labour. Council’s costing came out at $77,000,” Ms Anderson said.
Ms Arthur said the Council’s costing were based on Cordell’s industry guide and were not a quote but an indicative guide.
“It all depends on the type of fencing, the height, the gateways and access, and whether it’s necessary to do concreting,” Ms Arthur said.