The western area of Wishart Reserve in Hampton East is a dedicated and secure dog off-leash space. This section of the reserve is extremely popular among dog walkers, which has led to heavy wear and tear and deterioration of some of the existing surfaces and infrastructure.

A draft concept design was developed by a dog agility landscape architect to provide a more enriching exercise and training space for dogs and their walkers.

The design aimed to improve the environment and vegetation and create an engaging space for all dogs to play, explore and socialise.

Between 30 January to 27 February 2023, we asked our community to provide feedback on our concept design to improve Wishart Reserve dog park via an online survey, written submission, interactive map, online fund-it tool, drop-in sessions or through stakeholder group meetings.

We heard from over 500 participants, including 156 online survey submissions, 159 online Fund-it contributions, 7 written submissions, and 2 stakeholder groups. We’ve summarised feedback below, or you can read the complete report.

A petition with 34 signatures was also received requesting Council to ‘Cease any and all upcoming changes to Wishart Reserve and conduct a comprehensive review of the needs of the whole community with respect to the layout, amenity and accessibility of the space’. More information is available in the June meeting agenda.

Participants who use Wishart Reserve to exercise dogs were supportive of the concept design.

Some participants raised concerns regarding the draft concept design.

A number of local stakeholders who do not use the space for dog walking and a representative of the Bayside Dog Alliance (BDA) suggested creating a pedestrian access route to allow those not walking dogs to pass through the Reserve without having to enter a dog off leash space.

Following community engagement, the initial design was amended, and two further concepts were created to address issues that were raised during the four-week engagement period. These two updated concepts are directly influenced by information gathered during community engagement.

Design option A introduces design elements to manage dog activity and provide for the physical, sensory and social needs of dogs. It provides formal and informal seating/perch features and retains the elements as proposed in the original concept design but with the circular pathway removed. In response to community feedback additional seating (total 4) and a water bowl (total 2) is included, and the digging pit is relocated.

Option A retains the existing dog off leash footprint and adds additional infrastructure that will provide sensory stimulation to dogs and suitable amenities for dog walkers.

Key aspects of Option A include:

• maximises the area over which dogs activity can be dispersed and offers owners more options for retreating from the main activity area that occurs in the centre of the park, an important consideration in a fenced off-leash area
• retains existing large shade trees in the off-leash area
• allows for additional elements to be introduced as required because of the need to manage any significant increase in usage
• does not make provision for pedestrian access between Wishart Street and Bluff Road.

Design option B delivers the same benefits as option A and includes a response to community requests to provide a pedestrian access route through the Reserve – allowing visitors to get from Wishart Street to Bluff Road without entering a space that is a dedicated dog off leash area. The pedestrian access path is along the south boundary of the Reserve. Adding a pedestrian path will reduce the space available to exercise dogs off leash from 0.85 hectares to approximately 0.65 hectares.

Both designs will be presented to Council with a recommendation that design option B is adopted as the preferred design solution to upgrade the off-leash space within Wishart Reserve.

We will consider community feedback and the concept design for adoption at the 27 June 2023 Council meeting.

Council meeting 6.30pm, 27 June

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