Many Deakin dogs and their owners are aware of the lack of appropriate spaces for resident dogs to be exercised off-leash.

They may not be aware that the only designated spaces within Deakin itself are at West Deakin either side of the Mint oval, including those blocks where the Land Development Agency has proposed to erect high-rise residential and commercial buildings adjacent to Adelaide Avenue.

Some Deakin residents may not be aware that neither Latrobe Park nor the stormwater and utlities easment along the foot of Red Hill reserve is not approved for off-leash dog exercise.

The LDA plans also would build over current off-leash areas in Yarralumla. As a result, the Brickworks proposal would eliminate almost the only off-leash precinct in or close to Deakin.

DRA learned, too late to make submission, that ACTPLA is conducting a review of off-leash dog exercise areas across the ACT.

The issue is a difficult one, requiring to balance the needs and rights of dogs and dog owners with the reasonable apprehensions of other park-users (including owners of vulnerable dogs) about unpredictable or aggressive behaviour by poorly-managed off-leash dogs.

The ACTPLA consultation papers are at THIS LINK.

The ACTPLA map link covers all dog-exercise areas in the entire ACT, and may be difficult to navigate. DRA provides this section of the Deakin/Yarralumla proposal – off-leash exercise area in hatched green, “conditional” areas (subject to other uses) are in hatched brown.