Fences dropped in dog park plan
The proposal to set up a secure dog park in Palmerston North has shifted location and turned into a free-range dog socialisation area.
The draft Waitoetoe Park reserve development plan has been approved to go out for public consultation, including a dog exercise area that city councillor Lorna Johnson said ’’completely missed the point’’.
Before she was elected to the council, Johnson was part of a group that presented a petition asking for an enclosed dog park to be set up in the city.
The request was for a fenced area where people who were less agile than their dogs could confidently let their pets off their leads and know they would stay safe.
Early plans for developing the Linklater Reserve in Kelvin Grove included a dog park, but the need to locate it well off the road, away from houses and at the end of a costly new access road, priced the idea off the market.
After a series of other sites were considered, the council shifted part of the budget for a dog park to the opposite end of the city, to Waitoetoe Park.
The development plan for the reserve, approved by the council’s sport and recreation committee, includes a dog activity area that is only partly fenced.
Landscape planner Shannon Bray told councillors he did not like fences, and the people who valued Waitoetoe Park wanted it to be kept as natural and unstructured as possible.
The challenge with developing the park would be to resist overdevelopment, while managing potential conflict between walkers, cyclists, dogs and children.
He said dog walkers who used the park did not want to see an enclosure with six-foot-high fences where people went in with their dogs and locked the gate.
‘‘Fences are not the answer,’’ Bray said.
‘‘The danger is you create an area with a false sense of security that you can let your dog go to do whatever it likes.’’
The plan would include some fencing that was not obvious to keep dogs away from part of the Manawatu Riverside shared pathway to avoid conflict with cyclists.
The fences that were put in would be hidden among hedges and other planting.
The wetland area would not be fenced off, but would rather serve as a natural barrier, he said.
Johnson said the original submission calling for a dog park was completely different to what was in the Waitoetoe plan.
She said the city already had a number of dog exercise areas, including Waitoetoe Park, and the request had been specifically about a secure, fenced park.
It would cater for dog owners with limited mobility, and those who struggled to keep their dogs under total control to prevent them running away.
‘‘This is a slightly enhanced dog-off-lead area and is not what was requested.’’
Cr Rachel Bowen said without fences there would be tensions at the park between user groups.
Her concern was about conflict between dogs running loose, and children being encouraged to explore the natural setting.
‘‘You can achieve a lot with planting, but not necessarily the sense of security that there is a fence between your 4-year-old and somebody’s massive doberman.’’
The draft development plan is expected to go out for formal consultation for a month. under control.
Fortunately, everybody got out of the house safely, but it highlighted the importance of keeping a close eye on the kitchen while food was cooking, Kidd said.
The heavily damaged house was a Housing New Zealand property, and would likely need to be demolished. HNZ area manager Keith Hilson said both tenants were safe and staying at a motel until a new permanent home can be found for them.
Ingrid Arnold was driving down Limbrick St that day when she looked up and saw the smoke. Her heart skipped a beat as panic squeezed her chest – she could tell straight away the fire was on her street.
It wasn’t until she turned on to Ihle St and saw the fire trucks gathered several metres down the street from her home that she knew her home was safe.
But her relief was tempered by sympathy for her two neighbours, left standing by as their home burned.
‘‘It’s a terrible feeling seeing someone watch their home and possessions go up in smoke. My heart goes out to them.’’