Popular park gone to the dogs
Palmerston North’s planned dog park, thwarted by potential noise complaints at a Kelvin Grove reserve, could find a home in the opposite corner of the city.
The new site would be next to the Manawatu riverside shared pathway entrance from Maxwells Line, near an area that has become a natural wetland during the winter months.
Green city councillor Brent Barrett said he would support the dog park location so long as it did not interfere with the area’s natural wilderness values and biodiversity. ‘‘Dogs and frogs are not a good mix,’’ he told Monday’s sport and recreation committee that supported the choice of location.
A dog park was proposed as part of the development plan for the Linklater Reserve, but concerns about noise meant it would have had to be located at the end of a long accessway, making it an expensive option.
City council leisure assets planner Jason Pilkington said a site at Waitoetoe Park, between the Paneiri Park sportsground and the Manawatu River, was now recommended. The site had the advantage of being well over 200 metres from any houses, the distance recommended to protect neighbours from any nuisance caused by barking dogs.
Newly-elected city councillor Lorna Johnson and one of the founders of Dog Day Sunday social events for dogs and owners, Simon Coom, led the lobby for a dog park in 2014. Johnson said the important thing was that the city’s first dog park was somewhere people would welcome it. Coom said he was not worried about the change of location.
He said the Linklater Reserve was suggested as it was almost entirely undeveloped at the time and seemed like the most viable option. But, he said, Waitoetoe Park could be even better and regular users of the park were already well accustomed to seeing dogs off their leads in the area.
Waitoetoe Reserve Community member Rachel Keedwell said the area was already a popular place to exercise dogs and so long as the development did not interfere with the wilderness feel of the place, it would fit in.
Her only reservation was about building fences and other furniture or equipment in the middle of a flood zone that would go under water once every few years. Given the way dogs already exercised and played off leads throughout the reserve, she questioned the need to have a fenced-off area.
Cr Lew Findlay said people in Kelvin Grove had been looking forward to the dog park being developed on their side of the city. It would have been particularly appreciated by elderly people and those with mobility problems, who could sit in a fenced area while their dogs played and socialised. ‘‘There will be a lot of ill-feeling about this.’’
Findlay said he could not believe that the sound of a few dogs parking would provoke noise complaints from people living directly under the flight path to Palmerston North Airport.
Council staff had also considered using a section of Coronation Park, or an area near the Riverside Drive entrance to the Manawatu Riverside shared pathway, but both had features that would make them awkward.