Sep 5

Written by:
Monday, September 05, 2011 10:26 AM 

This Park is used by hundreds of dog walkers, runners, cyclists, and just walkers of all ages and physical conditions from all over the Shire, many on a daily basis. It works brilliantly– it is as though the whole park has been sprayed with happy gas and is the perfect snapshot of the happy Australian family out with their children and dogs having fun!

PREAMBLE

La Balsa Park has a fenced-in children’s playground, BBQ's and picnic tables. A solid, safe pathway, currently designated dog off leash 4pm to 8am begins at the boat ramp and continues for approximately 2.3 kilometres parallel to La Balsa Park and through Point Cartwright Reserve, returning to La Balsa Park. Point Cartwright Park consists of Cleared grassy areas, safe walking pathways and heavy bush areas. A small rocky beach fronts this park area. There is access around the rocks at low tide, or up the hill to a designated “off leash at all times beach.” As the laws stand you can get out of the car in the carparks surrounding La Balsa Park with your dog off leash and get a good healthy walk around the park on a solid safe path followed, if needs be, by a walk along the beach. On return we can sit with our dogs in the park and have a coffee. We are happy, healthy and responsible dog walkers and there has been no genuine reason articulated as to why the current off-leash laws in La Balsa Park should be revised. 

La Balsa park is heavily utilised by the public during the following times:

• Summer Weekends from late morning (usually about 10 am)
• Public Holidays 

At all other times the majority of the park is virtually deserted, except for people walking their dogs.

Currently, the path through the park is designated off-leash from 4 pm to 8 am.  This gives people walking their dog off-leash 3.5 hours in Winter and 5 hours in Summer to give their pets much-needed exercise and socialisation.   The hours mean people with dogs must get up very early and usually end up walking in the dark, in the cold during winter.  The relatively restricted hours means there is often congestion during the designated times.

Council is proposing to take approximately 1.6 Km of the present off leash walk away from us and in return they are giving us a very small area available to dogs off leash 24/7. The resulting “walk to nowhere” is 694 metres long, a net loss of 70% of our healthy off-leash walk. This proposed area is predominately heavy bush, complete with ticks, snakes and heavy, unusable scrub with only a portion of adjacent small grassy undulating park where the dogs can run free and get vital exercise. Under the proposed plan, half of the very short beach will be designated dog off leash. This is impractical to the older walkers and anyone with a disability or young children as the beach mostly is an unsafe tidal rocky outcrop.  Under the proposed changes, this off leash area will no longer be accessible without putting your dog on a leash and will therefore be totally inaccessible to some elderly people and mums with prams juggling children with bikes and scooters with the family dog in tow.  Many people cannot walk with a dog on a leash as the dog walks faster than they do.

Click Here to see a map representing the proposed changes (opens in new window)

When the dogs are walking along a path they are not playing or running around - they are heading to the beach, sniffing and enjoying the walk; they watch where they are going and avoid bikes, skateboards and people. If these same dogs were to be on leash, the owners are in many cases struggling to walk and hold a pulling dog - the leads will become entangled with prams and bikes and this will pose a serious danger to bike riders, children and the elderly.   

There are hundreds of kilometres of “NO DOGS ALLOWED” OR “ON LEASH AT ALL TIMES” locations where people can enjoy a healthy safe path walk, a beach walk or a picnic without dogs.  The coastal park walk that stretches between Golden Beach and Point Cartwright, and from Mooloolaba to the Maroochy River is 30 km long, of which just over 2km is designated off-leash for dog walkers for an average of 4 hours of daylight per day.  

That is 6% of the total path available to off-leash dog walkers for 30% of the daylight time on the Southern end of the Sunshine Coast.  When the available times and areas are already so restricted, it is astounding that the Council seeks to restrict this further, so that the length of path available to walk your dog off-leash will be just 2% of the total walking path available.  That is, 98% of the walking path will be off-limits to those who want to let their dog get some real exercise.

There are a large number of dog owners in the shire; surely we are entitled to a fair go.  Estimates vary, but it is thought that 36% of Australian households have a dog.  Many of us drive to this area because we have nothing similar closer. Many people have bought real estate in the Point Cartwright area because they own a dog and wanted the off leash walk available. Any person wanting to walk with no dogs has many many choices. As dog owners wanting to exercise our safe dogs off leash we have very few choices. Many dog off-leash areas have been closed down (illegally) by council in the past couple of years.

Public areas should be available for all residents/users 24/7 - not withstanding this general principle dogs off- leash access to La Balsa Park and Point Cartwright Reserve is already restricted to the hours of 4pm - 8am seven days a week. Any suggestion that the public areas should be deemed dog ON LEASH at all times because of INFREQUENT HEAVY USE is totally inappropriate. Any tightening of the current restrictions regarding dog off - leash areas need to be supported by specific statistics and made available to dog owners. There is next to NO use of the areas being restricted by council for the vast majority of the year.

Dog owners happy with the off leash area are not vocal telling council they are grateful for the park. Thus council gets a very one sided view if there are complaints.

Council needs to be cautious in introducing any tightening of the current regulations when simple common sense is all that is needed. Australia is fast becoming one of the most over regulated first world countries.

Please note that we have been fighting the council to keep this off leash area for over 18 months, we have had meetings with Cr Chris Thompson and I was promised by council to be notified of any changes or any consultation meetings. This did not happen. We have been promised community consultation meetings every month or so since May 2010. These have not been organised. A very small number of residents were notified of these proposed changes to the existing laws. Council should have written to all dog owners in the area if it was serious about community consultation. Council has contained the timing of feedback such that many users of La Balsa Park and Point Cartwright Reserve will not be afforded the opportunity to respond simply because they are not aware of the proposed changes. Many dog off-leash walkers I have spoken to in the past two weeks have no idea of the proposed changes.

The Council website information on the proposed changes to off-leash areas states that “Point Cartwright Reserve (PCR) will be off leash at all times”. Map 42 only shows the area of PCR that is to be designated off-leash 24/7 and not the vast majority of PCR that will not be accessible to dog off- leash. This is misleading and I feel a deliberate ploy to make the public think they are actually getting more area available to dogs off-leash. All the other maps show the whole area.

Health and Safety

The pathways at La Balsa Park and Point Cartwright Reserve are the ONLY pathways on the coast in this area that allow for people to exercise dogs off leash (4pm – 8am) and thus provide a very much needed safe walking track for the elderly, mum’s with prams and kids on scooters/bikes with the family dog in tow. Many elderly and injured people are unable to walk on sand and this area is the only designated off leash path at the beach with a safe walking path available. La Balsa Park and Point Cartwright reserve are very well utilised by dog off leash walkers because they are much needed in the community and are totally necessary as a dog off leash walk. 

There is a plethora of uncontested medical evidence available that confirms that dog owners experience better physical and mental health together with happier, healthier and longer lives.

Dog owners walk, socialise, exercise and enjoy themselves, in many incidences with their entire family. This is about as healthy as it gets! Dog owners have fewer incidences of anxiety, depression, hospital visits and doctor visits each year, generating a significant cost benefit to the public health budget.

Walking one’s dog on a daily basis requires necessary daily exercise by the owners. Restricting areas to dog off leash prevents many owners doing this effectively. Any suggestion that dogs must be on leash as detailed in Council’s proposal will result in increased risk of accidents and injury.

A dog walked off-leash and socialised regularly with people and other dogs is a safe and happy dog in the community. Dogs need unrestrained exercise, they need to socialise with other dogs, children and adults.  Council already has regulations in place that provide for unsafe dogs.

In almost every case an off leash dog is much less aggressive than the same dog on leash as they protect the area around their owner when on leash.

Council should encourage responsible dog ownership in the community and educate against the practice of restraining dogs in backyards.  Well exercised dogs spend their time resting and not barking at fences and neighbours.  Cr Chris Thompson with his proposed changes is effectively taking away a good safe, healthy path walk, where we can have our dogs off leash. Most of Point Cartwright Reserve is only used by dog walkers.

People that grow up with dogs have been proven to have a much higher immune system. Dogs walked in this park do not carry dangerous diseases, are exercised, groomed, wormed and washed regularly and are cleaner than some people using the park. You have more chance of catching a virus from another adult or child with a cold than contracting anything from a dog.

I have been walking these parks for three and a half years morning and afternoon, I have NEVER stepped in a dog pooh or had to tread carefully to avoid such mess. I have never seen a serious or near serious dog related incident.

One of the proposed regulations is to prevent dogs from being within 5 metres of a BBQ or children’s playground. As most of the picnic tables in this park are within 5 M of the BBQ’s this effectively results in dog owners being prevented from using any tables.  We totally object to this in the strongest possible terms. It is hugely discriminatory and is designed to keep people from bringing their beloved family pet to a picnic in La Balsa Park. If council continues to have health concerns regarding the BBQ then introduce a 1M exclusion zone. This will allow the owners to tie the dog to a seat while they cook. The majority of dog owners don’t allow their dog near their food.

The playground at La Balsa Park already has a fence around it preventing dogs from entering. Thus families taking their children and dogs to the park will be forced to tie the dog up 5M away from the playground. This will result in barking unhappy dogs and parents having to deal with both their dogs and their children. The playground has not encompassed any tables so parents are prevented from sitting in the playground supervising their children. Once again the introduction of these proposed laws will cause enormous problems.

Finally if council is genuinely concerned about health matters relating to the children’s playground and BBQ’s then where are the proposed laws preventing the Ibis and bush turkeys walking and poohing all over the park facilities? These birds are regularly seen sitting on tables and BBQ’s in the park. In reality no person should ever expect a BBQ or table to be hygienically clean. Rats, cats, birds and bats are always present in these parks. The council arguments on health and safety issues have NO CREDIBILITY.

Cr Thompson at a library consultation meeting gave as the main reason for these proposed restrictions a photo taken of a dog on a table. Everyone realises this was a photo shoot and is not something that occurs often at all and it is a total “beat-up”. Dogs do not urinate or defecate on the tables as we have evidenced some people and birds doing. So using this as an excuse for taking the tables and leash walk areas away from dog owners has NO MERIT WHATSOEVER.

Environmental

The people walking off leash dogs in this park do not harm the environment in anyway. The bush turkeys have a natural defence against the dogs and no one has ever heard of or seen a dog harming a bush turkey. There is a fox population that takes care of the turkey population.

The vast majority of the people using the park clean up after their dogs, but as in all walks of life there are those that don’t. Many of us pick up any mess we see and the park is amazingly clean. However it would be useful to place a sign at the beginning of the park to remind all owners to pick up after their dogs and put a fine in place for not doing so. The vast majority of responsible owners should not be held accountable for the very few irresponsible dog owners. This would encourage all people to pick up after their dogs.

Community Benefit

The community benefit is obvious – hundreds of people from all over the shire use this park daily with their dogs off leash. There is no community benefit in tightening the current off leash regulations. Dog owners will be grossly disadvantaged and the safety of people walking dogs will be compromised.  The principal problem of the dogs in the area - which is dog droppings left behind by irresponsible owners - will not be solved by requiring dogs to walk on a leash.  Dogs are quite happy to eliminate on or off-leash.  Only education for owners and ample plastic bags will solve this problem.  Restricting the off-leash area will not change the distribution and occurrence of dog waste.

There is no logical argument for closing this off leash area down and there are very strong arguments for extending the off leash hours from 4pm to 10 am. Closing the off leash dogs at 8am concentrates the early morning traffic. This is a time stipulated by council for no good reason which results in crowding the pathway beside the river. There is no evidence that anyone comes to the park at 8am because it is suddenly dog on-leash. In fact after 8am there is virtually no one at all in the park without a dog.

The area from the exercise equipment onwards should be off leash 24/7 on week days.and 4pm - 10am during weekends and holidays. Many people who use this park come from Montville or Maleny or Buderim and have a long drive time to get here – and because of the unique nature of the walk the hours of off-leash should be extended.

So far as dog off leash laws are concerned Council’s attempt to “Standardise” the local laws in concept is a complete nonsense. The community is made up of different people needing different experiences in different places. This park is very well used because it is needed by dog off-leash walkers . People who do not want the experience of dogs have hundreds of places to experience the coast’s beauty without dogs – this is the only place we can walk off-leash on a safe path and sit at a table and have a coffee and BBQ with our dogs in tow.

The high numbers of dog walkers currently in the Point Cartwright reserve area means it is a safe area for people of all ages. Unaccompanied women and on occasions unaccompanied children as young as 7 frequent La Balsa Park/Point Cartwright Reserve with little risk of interference. There is little evidence of drug users and discarded needles in this area, and very few incidents of vandalism or other troublemaking.  If the current proposed laws are introduced dog owners will use the park less and the park runs the risk of becoming a dangerous unsafe desolate place to walk encouraging the presence of unsavoury elements.

The vast majority of current park users co-exist harmoniously and socially interact with an overall positive experience being had by all. There will always be people who complain for their own benefit. There is NO justifiable reason for council to tighten the existing dog off leash laws at either La Balsa Park or Point Cartwright Reserve. There is evidence that these hours should be extended.

Conclusion

The submission has the following main points:

1. The existing off-leash areas in both La Balasa park and Point Cartwright Reserve should be maintained as is, with no changes.
2. The BBQ exclusion zone should be reduced to 1m
3. There should be no exclusion zone around fenced playgrounds.  Dogs can be tied up to the outside of the fence while children play.
4. The off-leash times should be extended to 10am in the mornings, so that they are 4pm-10am.

Update: the previous version of this submission contained information about exclusion around picnic tables. This was incorrect - picnic tables are only excluded where they fall within a 5m zone of a BBQ, which is the majority of tables in La Balsa park