Locals barking mad over ANZAC park dog walking rules
Residents on Hobart’s Eastern Shore are threatening ‘civil disobedience’ if Clarence council’s proposed rule change preventing off-leash dog activity at a beloved park goes ahead.
Tasmania
Don't miss out on the headlines from Tasmania. Followed categories will be added to My News.
ELDERLY residents are barking mad over a proposed rule preventing off-leash dog activity at their beloved park.
Derek Blair, 81, walks his “best mate” west highland terrier Harry every day at Anzac Park in Lindisfarne.
“There’s a lot of elderly people like me, sometimes meeting up at the park is the only socialisation we can have in a day,” he said.
But a new proposed Dog Management Policy from Clarence City Council could ban off-leash activity.
Dogs are currently permitted off lead but are not allowed within 10m of play equipment according to the council website.
Derek and his fellow dog walkers have reacted with anger over the “unreasonable” rule, signing a more than 600-strong petition against the proposed change and planning a protest for 10am today with some 50 dog walkers expected to come.
“Fifteen years I’ve been going there, I’ve never seen a dog attack a child or human,” Mr Blair said.
He said some owners were too frail to keep their dogs on-leash at the park where the canines were used to running amok.
“They’d be dragging the walkers everywhere, it would be very easy for the dog to pull their owner over,” he said.
Mr Blair’s fellow impassioned friend Terry Polglase said the Council had already heard from the RSL and Dogs Tasmania, and now it was time for the park users to have their say.
Mr Blair said fears off-leash activity disrespected or damaged the surrounding Anzac memorial were unfounded.
“This area of the memorial is being treated with the greatest respect,” he said.
“If these heroes were alive today they’d probably love sitting on the park benches watching the pets frolicking.”
If the off-leash motion does pass, Mr Blair said he and a few friends would “defy” the rules and “engage in civil disobedience”.
Clarence City Council Mayor Alderman Doug Chipman said he understood the community was “passionate” about the issue.
He hoped to receive their feedback during the two week consultation period beginning Monday March 15.
“Users of the park, alongside other members of the public will be able to take part in this consultation when it commences this Monday March 15 2021,” he said.
“It is important to know that council have not made any decisions regarding the new Dog Management Policy or any potential changes to Anzac Park and will not be doing so until we have considered all the feedback we receive from the community during this consultation process.”
To contribute to the consultation from 9am Monday visit yoursay.ccc.tas.gov.au
O’Byrne pulls plug on support for Ferguson, says Premier must act
The survival of key Liberal Michael Ferguson hangs by a thread after key independent David O’Byrne declared he had lost confidence in the beleaguered Treasurer and Deputy Premier. What Mr O’Byrne said >>
World-leading program which has reduced dementia risk by 25%
A five-year dementia study run out of UTAS is showing drops of 25 per cent in the dementia risk of its study participants. Here is what they are doing to stay healthier for longer.