- Target:
- Georges River Council
- Region:
- Australia
- Website:
- www.georgesriver.nsw.gov.au
On Monday 5th September, council began works on the Gannons Park Shared Pedestrian & Cycling Path. This new development has apparently had extensive residential discussion about this topic, however, myself and MANY other residents who live within a 5 minute walk (including someone who has live across the road from the dog park for 20 years) have never been consulted or warned. I have lived here for approximately 5 years and have never had any information about this.
There is an extremely large amount of people who love using this off leash dog park, it is one of a kind! There is no where in Sydney like it. There is enough space that even dogs who are a little anxious can enjoy some off lead exercise without having other people and dogs (and cyclists) intruding their space.
People come from all over to enjoy this space with mans best friend. It is beautiful, spacious and safe. No where in Sydney can we enjoy such a large open space, without concerns of traffic nearby, without fences that force us to be too close to every other dog in the area!
Not to mention Hurstville All Breeds Dog Training. This is a fantastic volunteer run organisation who help 100's of people learn how to train their dogs every Saturday afternoon. Imagine how this will turn out with people speeding around a cycling track! They have been there for years helping the community learn how to train and handle their pets - and they weren't even made aware of this development until works were already underway!
People who try to do the right thing and train their dogs will have an awfully hard time doing so if there are cyclists speeding around. On any given Saturday there can be up to 50 people training down there.
Most afternoons there are so many people and their best mates enjoying this space. This will be destroyed.
No matter how well trained our canine friends are, a bicycle speeding past can set them off. They may be scared (i know my beautiful boy is scared of bikes, this is why we hang out down there as there are none), they may be excited and chase them - dogs chase things!
We dont let them off lead in upper Gannons for 2 reasons:
1 - It is not allowed
2 - sports with people running, balls flying and people riding bikes are a huge distraction and encourage dogs to chase!
Perhaps creating a cycling track in Evatt Park in Lugarno would be more appropriate? It is not an off leash area, therefore would not be affecting the small amount of freedom our dogs get.
The idea of putting in a bike track in an off leash dog park is clearly a bad idea. What is going to happen when a cyclist comes speeding through the park and a dog becomes over excited and chases it, or a small child riding their bike down there scares a dog and it chases them. Small children on bikes and scooters are generally a scary situation for dogs!
Please stop the works, please don't take away the best thing Peakhurst has! Please dont take away our only safe space to play off leash with our dogs!
Save our Dog Park!
We, the community, are calling for Georges River Council to put a stop to the Gannons Shared Pedestrain & Cycling Path. Keep our Off Leash Dog Park as it is!
You can further help this campaign by sponsoring it
The Save Gannons Dog Park Peakhurst petition to Georges River Council was written by Amanda Peroy and is in the category City & Town Planning at GoPetition.