Recently we advised you of a council decision regarding changes to the rules for dogs on beaches. When we made this announcement, many of you contacted us to tell us that you hadn’t received any emails regarding the consultation, despite the fact that as far as we were aware, an email had been sent from staff to all registered dog owners in PAE. We heard you and we listened. This didn’t add up, which prompted us to investigate the matter further.

The consultation we undertook over a two-month period was advertised through many different channels in addition to email. It was comprehensive and we received 685 submissions. We believed in good faith that what we sent an email to all registered dog owners.

After investigating further, we found that of the 11000 registered Dog owners in our City, only 8500 had received the email.

The Council Members in good faith made recent decisions based on the information provided to them derived from the consultation process. We realise now that the information was incomplete and not up to the standard the Council Members expect. This truly was a genuine mistake that had occurred, we are now going to make it right. We are also going to ensure that both dog owners and non-dog owners who use our beaches have another chance to have their say on this matter.

To that end, I have called a Special Council meeting to recommend that Council undertake a another round of consultation in the new calendar year in 2023. The reason for this delay is during the period leading up to the November Council elections, Council operates under Caretaker provisions which means it is unable to undertake further consultation or make decision at this time on this matter. At this meeting we will also make sure the existing rules and arrangement stay in place to give residents some certainty about on and off leash rules and locations they apply.

I want to thank the people who respectfully contacted us to discuss this. But I would also like to take a moment to say how appalled I was at the tone and language used in emails to myself, councillors and staff, comments on social media, and phone calls that were received. Please remember that, just like you, we are all humans just trying to do the best job possible for our community.

End of Statement.