Staff wasted time and money ‘barking up the wrong tree’ for park plan, says Boroondara councillor

A Boroondara councillor has slammed council staff for wasting thousands of dollars on a failed plan to create a fenced-in dog park in Hawthorn East.

Boroondara Council spent almost $11,000 investigating a dog park proposal for Hawthorn East just to scrap the plan following fierce community backlash.

Councillor Jim Parke lambasted council staff in front of a packed council meeting on Monday for wasting time and money on the plan for Fritsch Holzer Park.

Councillors unanimously voted to back down on the proposal last Monday, drawing loud applause from more than 50 people in the gallery.

Cr Parke said thousands of dollars were spent investigating the proposal just for it to be dumped, and said the council failed to find the right spot for the park despite working to find a space for the past six years.

“If this is what success looks like, I’d hate to see what failure looks like,” he said.

“What disappoints me is that during this very lengthy journey, we’ve had highly paid consultants and council officers that have lead us to this point.

“But clearly we’ve been lead to a situation where quite clearly we’ve been barking up the wrong tree.

Park users and Hawthorn East neighbours weren’t happy about Boroondara Council’s redevelopment plans for Fritsch Holzer Park. Picture: supplied

“The cynic in me wonders how this particular park came forward (in the first place).”

Boroondara staff confirmed last week the council spent $10,886 over four months investigating the Fritsch Holzer dog park proposal.

The plan included a 1.5m high fence to be built around part of the park, which is an off leash dog park, as well as two shared paths for pedestrians and cyclists.

Hawthorn East’s Millicent Burke questioned the need for a fenced-in dog park in the suburb and said the council could have saved money if it did its research early on.

“I felt they were really out of touch with this one,” she said.

A council officer report noted most people surveyed did not want a fenced-in dog park in the area, and recommended the council ditch the idea despite detailed plans having already been drawn up.

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Hawthorn East’s Joanne Fenton said she was pleased the council recognised the importance of retaining the park as open space.

“I think it’s a good concept but it’s about whether there’s a need,” she said.

“I suppose their research showed them that this is possibly not what the community needs.”

Boroondara acting director of environment and infrastructure Carolyn Terry said at the meeting survey respondents approved parts of the dog park proposal, including installing a drinking fountain and dog water bowl, upgrading the central gravel path, and planting new trees.

She said $90,000 would be spent implementing these improvements and connecting the existing path network to Camberwell Rd.