Dog Exercise Areas
Background
Up until October 2023 there was just one off-leash fully fenced dog exercise area in our District at TECT Park, and it's proven to be a great success. Following its popularity, we asked the community (back in 2000 through the Long Term Plan 2021-31) would they support us creating more dog exercise areas, and which towns should they be in?
The answer was yes, 68 percent of people supported more fenced dog exercise areas, and the top four locations were Te Puke, Ōmokoroa, Katikati and Waihī Beach.
We also asked what should be provided at the dog exercise areas and your top five priorities were bins, drinking water, secure fencing, shade and dog poo bags.
Dog exercise area at Lawrence Oliver Park, Te Puke
We opened a new dog exercise area in Te Puke in October 2023. It's proved hugely popular since opening with hundreds of dogs and their owners using it each week.
Dog owners can now enjoy the dog park, which features:
- Two securely fenced enclosures for high-energy and chilled out pups
- A water fountain
- Bench seating, paths and bins
- Dog poo bag dispensers
- A dog tunnel and agility items
The process to create the dog exercise area saw us develop a concept plan through the Maketu - Te Puke Reserve Management Plan. During that process we heard your invaluable feedback on what the park should look like and what it needed to include. And in 2022 Council adopted a concept plan for the exercise area.
In May 2023 generous funding from TECT and hard mahi from the Te Ara Kahikatea Pathway Society saw $48k pumped into the dog exercise area development. This meant the dog exercise area was able to go ahead as per original plans, and not be scaled back or delayed because of budget constraints.
The injection of funds added to the $30k funded through Western Bay of Plenty District Council’s dog registrations and Long Term Plan 2021-31 allocation, and $20k from the Te Puke Community Board.
Dog exercise areas
The other three dog exercise areas proposed were in Waihī Beach, Katikati, and Ōmokoroa.
In winter 2023 we consulted with the Katikati and Ōmokoroa communities on the locations for their dog exercise areas.
What's happening in Katikati?
For the Katikati community a fully fenced urban dog space is being created at Donegal Reserve, on the back of 81 percent local support for this location through the community kōrero.
Council has $30k allocated to go towards the creation of this dog exercise area and construction is underway.
What’s happening in Ōmokoroa?
In Ōmokoroa the decision was made to investigate and consult with the community on Precious Family Reserve as an alternative location for a dog exercise area, alongside the original location we consulted on of Links View Drive Reserve.
Community consultation in 2023 saw 64% of submitters supported the location of Links View Drive Reserve, and we received 35 responses suggesting alternative locations, with Precious Family Reserve being the most common option. We recognised it deserved further investigation, so we went back to the community in February 2024 to ask which location they preferred.
Council’s latest round of community consultation resulted in 892 individual submissions from the public, 171 of which were against a dog exercise area and the majority were in support of it. However, community feedback on which of the two proposed locations were preferred, Links View Drive Reserve or Precious Family Reserve, were closely contested - 321 and 324 respectively.
We listened, taking into account the strong views for and against each location (Links View Drive Reserve and Precious Family Reserve), while still considering the large number of people who want a dog exercise area.
As a result, both locations have been ruled out as potential locations. Instead, we plan to build the dog exercise area within the future Active Reserve. The door has been left open to other potential locations to be considered also. Planning for the proposed Active Reserve at the corner of Prole Road and Ōmokoroa Road is estimated to begin within the next 10 years. Read the Decision Story here which outlines the key outcomes.
You can also see the media release announcing these decisions.
What's happening in Waihī Beach?
Investigation of the Waihi Beach dog exercise area location will be determined at a later date.
