At last – City of Sydney adopts consistent timetable with Woollahra Council for dogs being allowed off-leash in Rushcutters Bay Park

The 2011 Residents Association welcomes the City of Sydney deciding to align the times during which dogs can be off-leash in its section of Rushcutters Bay Park with the Woollahra Council section. This is important as the two Councils control adjacent sections of the one park and a consistent timetable for dogs off-leash is important for all park users.

We brought this matter to the attention of Council in our submission on the then-proposed dogs off-leash policy in February 2008. We wrote in that submission:

…we note that dogs are currently allowed to be off-leash in the Woollahra Council section of Rushcutters Bay Park from 4.30pm – 8.30am each day and are required to be on-leash at other times. We bring this to the City’s attention as Rushcutters Bay Park, while controlled by two different Councils, is essentially one park, and the City of Sydney should be mindful of the implications of this on the behaviours of park users when setting its policies.

Amazingly, it was only at the Council Committee meeting that Council acted to talk to Woollahra Council about the times for dogs being permitted off-leash, when Councillor Phillip Black moved an amendment to the proposed policy to that effect.

It is surprising to have taken Council so long to come to this decision, which was detailed in the 12 June 2009 e-news from Clover Moore, the Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney:

In response to requests from the local community … dogs will be permitted off-leash between 4.30pm and 8.30am as they are in the eastern half of the park [in Woollahra Council]. Dog-owners have repeatedly requested the change to align the off-leash hours throughout the park to reduce confusion and provide clarity for everyone who uses the park.