THE City of Busselton council have been forced to revisit its dog management resolution after an outpour of opposition from the public.
After the Busselton and Dunsborough Dog Beach Action Group gained more than 1200 members on Facebook, council decided to consult with the community on a set of proposals for when and where residents and visitors would be able to take their dogs onto beaches.
This decision was made in the wake of a photo shoot organised by the Facebook group members.
The photo shoot saw more than 100 dogs and their owners gathered at Geographe Bay Yacht Club and Dunsborough Dog Beach on Thursday night to demonstrate their commitment to exercising dogs on beaches.
Mayor Ian Stubbs and other councillors attended the photo shoot after invitations were sent from group members.
The councillors and mayor answered questions and presented posters highlighting the proposed alterations including exercise, prohibited, seasonal and modified seasonal areas on the beaches.
According to the posters displayed, exercise means dogs are allowed off the lead on sections of the beach all year round.
Prohibited means dogs are prohibited from these beach areas at all times.
Seasonal means dogs are prohibited between 9am and 5pm on each day between December 1 and February 28. At all other times dogs are allowed off the lead at these beach locations.
Modified seasonal means dogs are allowed off the lead except during the period August 1 to April 30.
Mayor Stubbs said it needed to be noted that the council’s October decision was not final, and nothing would change this summer.
As the meeting drew to a close most attendees felt reassured their voices had been heard and were happy with the outcome.
However some dog owners were still concerned the seasonal areas would be too congested.
Mayor Stubbs said the council was prepared to revisit an earlier decision if a more workable and broadly acceptable solution presented.
"There does need to be a balanced approach, and I think the community is indicating we didn’t get that balance right with the proposals we adopted for consultation in October,” Mayor Stubbs said.
A late item on this matter will be presented to next week’s November 26 council meeting giving the council an opportunity to modify the proposals adopted in October before formal consultation with the community takes place.
It is expected formal consultation will not take place until February 2015, at which time there will be an opportunity for the community to be fully informed of the proposals and have their say before any final decisions are made.
Council will adopt proposals that allow dogs to be taken onto more beach areas, more of the time than the proposals adopted in October.
Over the coming summer, dogs are permitted on most beach areas, except the area near the Busselton Jetty and National Parks.