By CASEY NEILL
DOG-LOVERS and their pooches are now happier and safer at a Keysborough off-leash park.
Noble Park’s Rosie Fields is among 10 to 15 people who meet at Frederick Wachter Reserve each morning with about 20 dogs.
They held a mock royal opening for new gates the City of Greater Dandenong has installed at the park.
“We have a lovely time,” she said.
“We talk, the dogs play.
“We have a lot of fun and we’ve become friends.”
Greater Dandenong regulatory services manager Peter Shelton said the council had a program in place to expand and improve dog off-leash areas across the municipality.
“As part of this program, council trialled a fully fenced dog off-leash area in North Dandenong last year,” he said.
“The success of that trial led to council assessing other potential sites for creating a similar facility elsewhere in the municipality.
“The dog off leash area at Wachter Reserve, which was already fenced along a fair proportion of its boundaries, presented as an ideal location to create the facility.
“The works were completed recently, and resident feedback to date has been very positive.”
Mr Shelton said the need for further fully fenced sites would be assessed as the dog off-leash program continued, and funding would be sought for construction where necessary.
