Plans for a fenced park for Geraldine’s canine companions have gone to the dogs.
Geraldine dog park committee spokeswoman Jennine Maguire said the story behind it was a sad one, which had ‘‘divided the community’’.
The Timaru District Council had agreed Kennedy Park was a good location for a dog park and there was support from the community, but the Geraldine Community Board had said no, Mrs Maguire said.
Geraldine Community Board chairwoman Jan Finlayson said the quality of the submission for the dog park at Kennedy Park was strong and the Timaru District Council had run a thorough consultation.
However, the board felt ‘‘creating a dog park would preclude using the space for events like the Matariki motor muster or the winter lantern festival’’, Ms Finlayson said.
Mrs Maguire said the committee first ran into problems when the original location for a potential dog park on Talbot St was found to be too small.
The amount of money needed for ‘‘beautification’’ — as it was on the main road — had been just one of the issues which had prevented them from proceeding, she said.
The committee would have had to install black fences ‘‘at twice the cost’’ and large gates to accommodate Fire and Emergency New Zealand trucks.
There was also an issue of the area being too wet in winter, and needing to be closed off.
‘‘So we thought we would readdress the Kennedy Park option,’’ Mrs Maguire said.
The group approached the council and, to its surprise, ‘‘it was [the council’s] preferred site as well’’.
The council had been ‘‘fantastic’’, she said.
As the proposed park required a 5m native-planted area between the houses and the dog park, the council began ‘‘helping to design a planting and fenced off area’’.
Geraldine High School had also been approached about the park, to see if they would assist with having the fence installed as a part of their Primary Industry Academy.
The group spoke at the Geraldine Community Board public forum, ‘‘asking about changing the location’’, Mrs Maguire said.
The community board agreed and asked the council to put it out for public vote.
‘‘The public spoke, voting 13 against and 30 for.’’
However, despite the council’s recommendation and the public vote, ‘‘the community board still voted against the dog park’’.
She was not asked to attend any community board meetings to answer any questions it had, Mrs Maguire said.
Ms Finlayson said the public input was a consultation, not a vote, and the community board had concerns about the area being unable to be used for other purposes.
Not only would the dog park stop the land from being used for large events, the board also felt there were problems with mess, she said.
While the board had turned down Kennedy Park, they had hoped the proponents would look at other centres to see where else a dog park could be located that would be suitable for everyone.
But so far she had not heard from the group.
‘‘In the end, it is over to the dog park proponents.’’
For Mrs Maguire, after six years of being on the community board herself, she was ‘‘amazed at how the decision was made’’.
‘‘To say the dog park committee and friends were disappointed is an understatement.’’
‘‘The dog park committee has decided to disembark — sorry about the pun — as we have a vote of no confidence in the Geraldine Community Board now and in the future.’’
