West ward council candidates support fenced dog exercise area
Hamilton dog owners have been waiting more than 10 years for a fenced leash free dog exercise area. The Waikato Independent spoke to several west ward candidates for this year’s Hamilton City Council election about this issue.
Hamilton dog owners have been waiting more than 10 years for the Hamilton City Council to create just one fully fenced leash free dog exercise area.
When the law changed in 2004 under the Dog Control Policy Act the council said it would create five fully fenced designated dog exercise areas across the city within the next three years.
It is now 2013 and Hamilton dog owners are still waiting.
The city currently has 13 dog exercise areas. None are fenced and only one has legal access to the river.
A number of west ward candidates in this year’s Hamilton City Council election support a fenced dog exercise area.
West ward and mayoral candidate Ewan Wilson said: “I would fully support a thorough investigation into whether a fenced dog park one on each side of the river could be fitted into our 10-year plan. I was lucky enough to see a great example of this in Dunedin recently and have started to collate all the information and get some cost indication. As a dog owner I would love to see this happen and undertake to bring a plan to council to see if I can get my colleagues’ support.”
Angela O’Leary said she has been advocating for a fenced dog area since she started on the council.
“It was the first ‘idea’ I put forward,” she said.
Candidate Robin Fletcher said: “We have some great open spaces in some of the parks around Hamilton and I have read that fenced specialty dog parks are offering great social and well-being benefits for both dogs and their owners – but they need to be well-designed for maximum gain. This is something I will be interested in putting forward if I am successful. We are lagging in this area, compared to other cities.”
Candidate Russelle Knaap agrees a fenced area would be a good idea.
“Cost would be minimal with owners obligated to clean up mess. When you compare this to the cost of $90,000 for six to eight new ‘Wayfinder’ signs to direct pedestrians and cyclists in the central city to the toilet, arts museum and events centre, I think this would be much better value for money,” she said.
