‘No clarity’ over proposed ban

‘‘Dog owners routinely run their dogs off-leash in the Harbourview walkway and coastal area and along the beaches, foreshore and tidal seabed of Te Atatu Peninsula’’

Fear abounds that dogs will be banned on walkways around the Te Atatu Peninsula – but this is not what is being proposed, HendersonMassey Local Board chairperson Vanessa Neeson says.

It is only the foreshore, wetlands, shell banks and intertidal areas down to the motorway and up to and including Moire Park in West Harbour, she says.

But dog owner Rochelle Gormly says the proposal is not clear – as the pathway goes through such areas.

‘‘You can’t have a footpath on the beach and say the beach is forbidden,’’ she says.

‘‘There’s no clarity ... or understanding from the proposal that’s been written.’’

The proposal also looks to ban dogs from the HarbourviewOrangihina reserve and walkway at the southeast of the peninsula. The council classifies these two areas as ‘‘highly-sensitive’’ due to the presence of rare birds.

‘‘The foreshore area of the Harbourview-Orangihina Walkway is one of the most valuable ecological spots in Auckland as the bittern, branded rail, spotless crake and fernbird are rare birds not normally found in urban areas,’’ the board’s proposal says.

More than five weeks of consultation on changes to dog access rules in the Henderson-Massey, Whau and five other local board areas around the city closed on July 17. In the final eight days, 215 dog owners filled in a written submission against banning dogs from Te Atatu’s walkway, with more filling out a submission online.

But for Forest & Bird the board’s proposal doesn’t go far enough.

It wants to ban dogs from a ‘‘significant number’’ of 168 parks and reserves across the board’s areas where dogs are allowed off a leash. Its submission also says the current rules ‘‘have proven a dismal failure’’ in keeping dogs on-leash.

‘‘Dog owners routinely run their dogs off-leash in the Harbourview walkway and coastal area and along the beaches, foreshore and tidal seabed of Te Atatu Peninsula,’’ it says.

There is also a ‘‘systematic failure’’ by the council to enforce the rules, Forest & Bird says.