Dog owners fined following complaints during off-leash beach trial
Dog walkers are being slapped with fines following complaints to Council over a trial to allow dogs off leash on Brisbane beaches.
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DOG walkers are being slapped with fines following complaints to Council over a trial to allow dogs off leash on Brisbane beaches.
On any given day along the foreshore at Sandgate, Nudgee Beach and Manly there are dozens of people walking their dogs and taking advantage of the trial areas to let them legally go for a run.
The trial was introduced to create recreational opportunities for dog owners in popular foreshore areas while also protecting vulnerable migratory shorebirds that visit Moreton Bay each year between September and April.
Brisbane City Council confirmed it had received 28 complaints during the first six months of the trial and had issued 37 infringements and 23 warnings.
There have been further reports that off-leash dogs have attacked shorebirds and threatened schoolchildren on field trips, but Council says it has received no complaints of that nature since the 12-month trial began on October 12 last year.
Except for the three trial areas, it is illegal to let dogs off leash on Brisbane beaches; the fine is $266.
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Council has been contacted 28 times since October, with a spokesman saying the main issue was dogs off leash outside the designated off-leash area.
“Council has received no formal complaints about dogs attacking birds, however residents are encouraged to report any attacks of animals,” he said.
“Officers have issued 37 infringements and 23 warnings in the past six months with the infringements mainly being for people failing to keep their dog under control or on a leash outside of the designated off-leash area.”
Nudgee Beach resident Mick Walker, spokesman for a large group of concerned residents, said he had seen dogs attacking birds but hadn’t reported any incidents to council.
He also said the Nudgee Beach Environmental Education Centre regularly took schoolchildren (before COVID-19) onto the flats to study flora and fauna – in an area which now forms part of the dog off-leash trial.
“There have been cases where they (teachers and children) have had their backs to each other and face outwards so dogs don’t attack,” Mr Walker said.
When approached for comment about this, a Department of Education spokesperson said, “The safety and welfare of students and staff is the highest priority for the Department of Education. Inquiries relating to dogs should be directed to the local council.”
The Council spokesman said, “Council has met with representatives of the Nudgee Beach Environmental Education Centre and provided a range of actions that could be taken to reduce the impacts of dogs on their activities, which Council understands they are currently considering.”
Another Nudgee Beach resident said she no longer felt safe taking her three young children for walks along the beach.
“We are out on the beach most days and dogs are always running up and scaring them, often in packs,” she said.
“They knocked my one-year-old over the other day. No harm done but I definitely don’t feel as safe taking the kids for a walk out there now.
“I’ve noticed so much more dog poo around. On the foreshore as well as out in the water where my kids are playing. It’s gross.”
Council’s website states the off-leash trial “aims to improve environmental outcomes and shorebird protection”.
However Queensland Wader Study Group chairman David Edwards said if Council wanted to protect the birds “enforce the laws and keep dogs off the beach”.
“Our main concern is the migratory birds – they return here in September-October and leave in March-April,” Mr Edwards said.
“Once they arrive they’ve used up all their energy and they need quiet time to feed. Feeding is best at low tide when their prey is exposed and, at that stage, any time they’re disturbed they are not eating and the fact they are flying means they use up energy.
“From February they are wanting to eat as much as they can to build up their fat and muscle to undertake their many thousands of kilometres journey up to the northern hemisphere.
“When they don’t put on the fat deposit and muscle so they can complete their journey, they can’t breathe and so there’s a population decline.
“When they arrive they tend to feed during the day, which is when people are bringing their dogs to the beach. When they are readying to go they are motivated to feed and will feed at both tides (day and night).”
Mr Edwards said Queensland Wader Study Group was the “expert group” on the working committee for the trial guidelines, along with representatives from Council and Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service.
However he said he was disappointed the group hadn’t been involved or consulted during any other stage of the trial.
Mr Edwards said he knew of migratory birds being disturbed near all the foreshore trial areas.
“I’ve been down to Nudgee Beach about three times, at the end of last year, and saw people pull up their cars and let dogs off (their leash) before they get to the trial area,” he said.
“I also spoke with the principal of the environmental centre and she was shocked as she hadn’t been approached about the trial. They take children onto the beach and the dog off-leash area is where they take the children.”
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Mr Edwards said he’d also been to Brighton a couple times and “certainly there were dogs in the on-leash area who were off the leash, breaking the rules.
“The trouble there is you don’t have a line in the sand to show where they can go.”
Mr Edwards said the Manly trial was in a fairly structured area at the back of the boat harbour and people followed the rules “reasonably well”.
“However some people still take leads off (their dogs) before the beach and some are running onto the beach on the Lota end of that and disturbing the birds.”
The Brisbane City Council spokesman said Council took the protection of migratory shorebirds very seriously.
“Council officers are patrolling all three locations every day, including weekends, to not only ensure people are doing the right thing but to also provide any guidance or educational information to residents.
“A large majority of people are doing the right thing when using the foreshore dog off-leash areas.”
The off-leash trial sites in Brisbane are at:
■ Manly – the beach area at the end of Davenport Dr, between the southern rock wall and the northern rock wall and boundary fence.
■ Nudgee Beach – from the main boat ramp at Nudgee Beach Reserve car park south to Kedron Brook.
■ Sandgate – between the stairs to the foreshore near the corner of Flinders Pde and Second Ave, Sandgate and the corner of Park Pde and Zeehan St, Shorncliffe.
The 12-month trial is planned to run until October this year.
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