Dog Bylaw Changes from 1 November

John Gillon from John Gillon - Kaipatiki Local Board

Recently The Mayor and Councillors adopted changes to the Dog Management Bylaw and Policy which take effect from 1 November 2019.
While I'm happy for dog owners, I do have concerns with the following two changes:

* Standardisation of Summer/Winter rules across Auckland:
There will now be one time period applied to most beaches over the Summer period - dogs will now be allowed on beaches after 5pm (the proposal was 7pm and most North Shore beaches are currently 6pm or 6:30pm). The new dates for the Summer period are 1 December until 1 March.
However, not only does this change strip the ability of Local Boards to reflect their community's views on local beach times, but it went against 59% of submitters (and most Local Boards) who wanted to retain local variation in times (only 34% of submitters wanted a regional rule).

* The new default rule for parks is on-leash:
In theory nothing should change, as the default rule only applies to parks NOT listed in the new "schedule 2" list that should include every park that is currently off-leash. However I've found that there are still errors and omissions in the Kaipatiki list, such as the "Bayview Community Centre​ and Creche" being listed as an off-leash area(!), Elliott Reserve referred to as "Kellaway Reserve" (which is in Dannemora), and the roads "Cobblestone Lane" and "Fernwood Grove" being listed as off-leash, instead of the parks "Cobblestone Lane Reserve" and "Fernwood Grove Reserve".
This rule would have been better to leave as it was, with off-leash the default and listing on-leash areas.

To accommodate the above changes to the dog rules, $1 million has been earmarked for new park signs or changes to existing signs.

For more information on the changes to the rules:
* OurAuckland: ourauckland.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz...
* Stuff.co.nz: www.stuff.co.nz...
* NZ Herald: www.nzherald.co.nz...