Northern Beaches Council is set to approve plans for dog beach at Station Beach
Over recent months tensions have been rising over plans for an off-leash dog beach at picture-perfect Palm Beach. The plan is set is set to be approved— however, the proposal is not what some might have been expecting.
Manly
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Councillors are being recommended to approve plans for an off-leash dog beach following a long and at times fierce campaign.
Council officers are recommending Northern Beaches Council approve the 12-month trial at Station Beach, Palm Beach, at Tuesday’s meeting.
The proposal has caused great tension in the north of the peninsula in recent months with opposing groups going head to head over the plans.
Council officers are advising councillors to proceed with the proposal, following State Government advice.
“Based on advice from the State Government agencies there are no impediments to the off-leash trial at Station Beach proceeding subject to obtaining a licence and mitigation measures being implemented,” a report to councillors states.
The two groups who have been arguing their opposing views are Pittwater Unleashed and Protect Palm Beach.
Protect Palm Beach has argued the proposal will have serious environmental impacts on the beach and in particular the seagrass.
Richard Kovacs, from the group, previously argued that several 2.5 metre posts would be required to mark off the seagrass.
“They are going to be very ugly, they are going to ruin the look of the place,” he said back in July.
The group commissioned and published an artist’s impression of what they claimed the markers would look like.
However, the council proposal states the seagrass will be marked off by just three buoys across a 520m stretch.
“The markers being proposed will do nothing to protect the fragile sea grass and ecosystem,” Mr Kovacs said on Thursday.
“It has been 14 months since council resolved to get the Station Beach community consultation underway. After all this time we see that council has assembled 356 pages of information, so it is pretty clear they have examined this matter from all angles,” Mitch Geddes, from Pittwater Unleashed, said. “They are nothing if they are not thorough.
“We are pleased to see council has rejected the suggestion about a fence-line of tide-marker posts.
“The use of three cray-pot floats in lieu of posts will mean people have a constant reminder that there is a need to keep the dogs off the seagrass at the very low tides.”
He added: “We see the design of the trial as a good balance of competing interests, and do not believe the professional staff would be recommending the trial if there was any legitimate environmental concern.”
Mr Kovacs said that if the council approved the trial it would “destroy” the beach, adding “if we lose it, we won’t get it back”.
He added: “Station Beach should not be sacrificed for a trial that requires more than 30 mitigation measures, costs tens of thousands of ratepayers dollars when the NSW Government and Fisheries want the council to look at more suitable locations because of environmental risks.
“The report recommends council evaluate sites less environmentally sensitive at the same time, with Fisheries preferring ocean beaches because they don’t support living marine vegetation like Pittwater or have fragile estuaries where endangered species like the Whites Seahorse live.
“The beach and local area are a major tourist destination and we must ensure it is not destroyed by turning it into a dog park.”
If approved the trial will run for a year with dogs allowed off-leash from 4pm to 10.30am Monday to Sunday and 5.30pm to 10.30am Monday to Friday.
The off-leash zone will be from the southern edge of the Station Beach wharf to approximately 110 metres north of the Beach Rd entry.
If approved council must apply for a licence and install signs, stipulating the restrictions.
Council officers predict it will cost $45,000 for environmental monitoring across the year, $1500 for the three buoys, $6000 for new signs and $2800 for two dog bag dispensers.
Councillors will decide on the trial at Tuesday’s meeting.
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