NBC currently has three dog policies – one for each of the former Council areas prior to amalgamation. From the time of Council administration in 2017, staff have had the task of streamlining these three old policies into the one, integrated policy.
The integrated policy, we are told, is to be known as the “Management of Dogs in Public Places Policy” (MDPP). It has been in preparation for 5 years (as at 2022), which is surprising, given the existing policies comprise of just 2 or 3 pages.
Link to Dog Policy governing former Pittwater Council area:
Link to Dog Policy governing former Warringah Council area:
Link to Dog Policy governing former Manly Council area:
It is a matter of record that the Dog Policy No.30 (former Pittwater) has been a disaster, delivering 20 years of acrimony and unworkability for the community. In sharp contrast, Dog Policy D70 (former Manly) has seen 20 years of harmonious sharing of quality public space, where Clontarf Reserve stands in demonstration of how an off-leash area can co-host many other uses such as kids’ playgrounds, family picnics, wedding celebrations, ethnic gatherings, harbour swimming along with high-value wildlife habitat. The maturity of the Manly approach is again apparent at Clause 2.3, where the default is to allow off-leash use of any Council reserves (but for those areas which are specifically listed as requiring dogs to be leashed or kept away) provided doing so is not interfering with other users of the space.
As Council moves to introduce the MDPP, Pittwater Unleashed will be taking a close interest with a view to seeing the community derive greater utilisation of some of its underutilised public space.