Dogs Policy Updates

12 December 2024: The new dog controls adopted by Council on 3 December 2024 came into effect.

3 December 2024: At the Council Meeting on Tuesday 3 December 2024, Council updated the dog controls across the peninsula following extensive community consultation. The update affected a number of reserves and foreshores in Blairgowrie, Cape Schanck, Crib Point, Flinders, Mount Eliza, Mount Martha, Portsea, Rosebud, Rye, Somers and Tuerong. For full details, please see the Government Gazette G50 12 December 2024(PDF, 519KB).

29 July - 26 August 2024: Shire Officers sought community feedback on seven specific sites and all things dog-related throughout the Shire.

25 June 2024: after being in place for 12 months, the Dogs in Public Places Policy was brought back before Council at its meeting on 25 June 2024. Council reviewed the implementation timetable, made a number of adjustments and adopted the Policy for the full four-year period.

14 June 2024: The Shire's interactive dog controls map went live on our website to make it easy for residents and visitors to see what controls apply to their local parks and foreshores.

31 October 2023: at the Council Meeting on Tuesday 31 October 2023, Council updated the dog controls on Shire-managed foreshores. The change moved from daylight savings controls which prohibited dogs on the foreshores between 9am and 7pm between October and April, to summertime controls which prohibits dogs between 10am and 6pm from 1 December to the end of February. This change makes our foreshores accessible for a longer period of time for dogs and their owners.

16 May 2023: Council adopted the Dogs in Public Places Policy. A review of the implementation was scheduled for 12 months' time.

20 October - 1 December 2022: the draft Policy was released for public comment.

18 October 2022: the draft Policy was presented to Council and approved to be released for public comment.

24 March 2022: workshops were held with Councillors to discuss their concerns and gain their input on the draft Policy.

29 November 2021: workshops were held with Councillors to gain their input into the development of the draft Dogs in Public Places Policy.

May 2021: a 'Have Your Say' online survey was conducted which included questions relating to the development of the Dogs in Public Places Policy and an invitation to provide input into the development of the Policy.