I'm all for a great place to walk my dogs, but do you realise that you are allowed your dogs off lead in almost all the reserves in Tauranga?  Dogs must be under control, ie. can be recalled and control to avoid causing a nuisance, but they are allowed off lead.  You must carry a leash.  See this page for the full details:

http://www.tauranga.govt.nz/services/dogs/exercise-areas.aspx

There are only a handful of areas we are not allowed to take our dogs, and even less where they must be on a lead.  The little sticker with a dog on a lead seen at reserves, simply means dogs are alowed, there are further details noted if they need to be on a leash.  We are incredibly lucky with this policy - and I applaud TCC for allowing it.

If you look at the areas in NZ that have dog parks i.e Auckland and Christchurch, you will find their policies regardng dogs on reserves are very restrictive, CCC has over a full A4 page list of all the reserves that you are not allowed your dog - and it states the list is not complete and it includes the swimming beaches, and Auckland dogs are only allowed offlead in a few selected reserves or in the nominated dog parks.

Watch out what you ask for, I don't want a dog park if this means I will suddenly not be able to walk my dog off lead in the local reserves....

If you want a fenced off area to do training, try the Mount Dog Club grounds on Links Ave at Bayfair, fully fenced with closing gates - boring space but it has fences.

#33: walkydog - Re:  

 I agree with you about the comment regarding setting a precedent re where we can walk our dogs. Once you commit certain areas to dog parks you risk having others designated as "no dog" areas.

Publicity around dogs deemed as dangerous, I believe, will result in the Council favouring submissions from people who don't want dogs at all in their local park.

We have a very good position with park use now. I think we should be careful we don't back ourselves into a corner and end up barred from general park use!

#33: walkydog - Re:  

 Thank you very much for your informative and objective feedback. We'll definitely take this into account when wording the submission to Council. The last thing we want is to restrict access to other areas in Tauranga, we'll include this in the submission. Some dogs have poor recall, which ends in a life permanently on lead when away from home for fear of their safety and disturbing others, this can lead to negative socialisation and limited exercise opportunities, this is something we hope to negate with a securely fenced area (although not the only reason). The Links Ave area is great for training and smaller dogs, although not suitable for larger dogs for exercising. We are researching the parks in other New Zealand cities and collating the positive and negative information on them.

Again, thank you for taking the time to highlight a few good points, you clearly have good knowledge on what is available in the various areas. If you'd like to help direct the submission in the right direction for the betterment of everyone, you are very welcome to join the committee.