A proposed dog off leash area at the Bairnsdale Bosworth Road former landfill site was given the tick of approval by East Gippsland Shire Council at its monthly ordinary meeting on October 2.

The Bairnsdale Bosworth Road former landfill site was identified as a potential site in the 2014 waste facilities and disposal strategy, which was approved by council at its December 16, 2014, meeting.

The rehabilitation and redevelopment of the Bairnsdale Bosworth Road former landfill site is complete.

A proposed off leash area at 43 Palmers Road, Lakes Entrance, was also given the go ahead.

An off leash dog area would require approximately 800 metres of fencing equating to $56,000 development cost per off leash dog area.

In addition, there are other costs including the provision and installation of signage ($143), the provision and installation of dog waste bag facilities ($981) and the maintenance and cleaning of the off leash dog areas.

In questioning the proposal Cr John White asked if more areas would become off leash if the two proposed sites were successful.

“We are working on establishing a reference group right as we speak, consisting of community members from various parts of the municipality to look at the options that we have available to us in terms of actually declaring areas off leash or declaring the entire shire off leash and only declaring certain areas on leash,” East Gippsland Shire Council director development, Paul Holton, responded.

Cr Marianne Pelz was thrilled to see a proposal for dog off leash areas in the region.

“As a die-hard animal lover I think it’s really important for animals to be able to run around and not be contained like they are when they are at home,” she said.

“It’s socially exciting for them when they get outside. To be able to advertise that we have dog off leash areas for our travellers, because a lot of people travel with caravans and their dogs, is really important. It’s only the first stage but it’s really important.”

This sentiment was shared by Cr Mark Reeves.

“We know that the demographic of our community is getting older and companion animals, in particular dogs, are really important,” he said.

“Some of us with dodgy knees and hips can’t exercise the dogs at the rate that the dogs require sometimes. Having somewhere where we can let them loose while their owners have a little bit of social interaction as well is important because we know how dogs can bring people together.

“I think there is a lot of community benefit.”

The motion was moved by Cr Pelz and seconded by Cr Reeves and was carried unanimously. Cr Richard Ellis, Cr Jackson Roberts, and Cr Colin Toohey were absent. Cr Ben Buckley is currently serving a suspension.