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Snells Beach resident Maurice Purdy asked the Rodney Local Board (RLB) at their meeting in December to reverse the recent changes to dog access rules for the esplanade and beaches there.
He also said the changes ignored submissions and bypassed community consultation.
Purdy was referring to changes made by the Board at its May 21 meeting where it decided on a beach ban for dogs from September 1 to March 31, which is the shorebird breeding season.
Also, dogs would have to be on a lead outside those dates, both on the beach and all adjoining reserves (the coastal walkway) from the Sunburst Reserve boat ramp north (MM, May 26).
In Purdy’s summary of his petition tabled at the meeting, Purdy called for the rules that were set in place by the board at its meeting in May meeting, to be returned to the original rules prior to 2015.
He also said the minutes of the May 21 meeting were changed three times before they were presented to the Governing Body on June 28, and asked where funding was found to appoint a facilitator to address the dog rules issue in Snells Beach.
Purdy said the concern was not opposition to bird protection, but how the changes were made.
“There were 360 submissions made on the rule change, and they seemed to be ignored. The facilitator said that 60 per cent or 70 per cent of the submissions were in favour of changing the rules, they weren’t, they were against the rule change.”
Purdy said residents supported bird protection and referred to recent nest damage at Snells Beach.
“There was a recent attack at Snells Beach. Some birds’ nests were raided and some eggs destroyed.
One chick’s gone. And it’s very unlikely it was dogs, because it happened at night, and dogs don’t eat the eggs.
“So, you know, we’ve been pretty tough on the dogs.
“We’d like you (the board) to think about revising that rule back to the original one that the community put in place in 2015.”
Board member Tim Holdgate asked what Purdy saw as the solution. Purdy said he didn’t think a lot of consultation was needed as there was enough information from the submissions.
Holdgate then asked if funding was needed for a coordinator and Purdy said “no”.
Board member Colin Smith asked democracy supervisor John Brown how the dog rules could be reversed.
“We’ll bring it back to the Board in a future report,” Brown said.
