By SELBY STEWART

St Kilda dog owners say Port Phillip Council has provided no reasonable alternative for off-leash walking during the six-month re-development of Peanut Farm Reserve oval.

The council’s proposed spaces off-leash areas – Marina Reserve, an open grass patch next to the St Kilda skate park and MO Moran Reserve next to Elwood Fitness Station – have left dog owners deeply concerned over the safety of their pets.

Dog-owner and St Kilda resident Ryan Stevens said both spaces were potentially hazardous for dogs and would see them run freely next to Beach Rd during peak-hour traffic and cause conflict with other park users.

“The provisions they have given to us have been unfenced areas near busy main roads that are not suitable for all dogs,” Mr Stevens said.

“It is also right next to a barbecue area and a playground so we will have families yelling at us … it is just going to create tensions in the community for no reason,” he said.

Peanut Farm Reserve provides an enclosed space for off-leash dogs all year round and is set to undergo a lengthy upgrade to make the surface safer for the various sporting teams that use it. The development was due to start last week. 

Dog-owner Sharon Williams, a resident of St Kilda for more than 20 years, said the Peanut Farm Reserve was home to a community of dog-owners who had been neglected during the planning process.

“It isn’t just one or two dog owners it is a group of at least 50 dog owners that are all people that live in St Kilda, we do what we are supposed to do, we share the oval and are respectful of the sports that happen here,” Ms Williams said.

“St Kilda is a dog-friendly place and that is not being recognised and that is what we find disappointing,” she said.

Ms Williams said the space provided opportunities for new residents to meet people.

Chloe Horrigan moved from Sydney and built her circle of friends from within the dog-walking community.

“I didn’t know anyone when I moved from Sydney and this is how I meet and socialise with friends, I come here to talk to people not only to walk the dog,” Ms Horrigan said.

“Now I have this whole community of people that I know and it is great and it is safe,” she said. 

Ms Horrigan said that the Victorian Government’s announcement last week that all tenants in Victoria were allowed to have a pet in their rental properties highlighted the importance of protecting safe dog-walking spaces for owners.

Veterinary nurse and local dog-owner Leah Turra said while six months could be considered a short time, early socialisation was vital to the behavioural development of young dogs.

“[Early socialisation] stops behavioural aggression. If your dog is socialised from the get-go it stops aggression towards other dogs and people,” Ms Turra said.

“It is all relative to the lifespan of your dogs, you have dogs down here that are pups or in the first two years of their lives and so there is a large population it absolutely impacts,” she said.

City of Port Phillip Acting Mayor Katherine Copsey said the well-being of residents was the council’s primary concern and that there had been many attempts to keep residents informed throughout the process.

“Notifications to residents about the works have included website updates, on-site consultations about the wider works program, letter-drops (fact sheets) being distributed to residents, and on-site signage to inform dog walkers of alternate off-leash sites they can use,” Ms Copsey said.

“Peanut Farm Reserve will again be an off-leash dog walking area once the works have been completed in early 2018,” she said.

However, Mr Stevens said he lives a four-minute walk from the park and was told he fell just outside the zone where notification letters were delivered and that signs were only put up one week before the park was due to close.

“All we want is an alternative that is safe and reasonably convenient, perhaps they could do half the oval at a time or fence off an area in the Botanical Gardens,” Mr Stevens said.

“It really isn’t a lot to ask, and while it is about the dogs, it is also about the people.”