Other issues for a Dunedin City Council hearings committee to weigh up next week include whether dogs should be allowed on leads in part of South Dunedin, to what extent dogs should be let off leashes at Pūrākaunui Beach and what should be read into a will at Woodside Glen.
The committee is due to deliberate on Tuesday next week on proposed changes to the council’s dog control bylaw.
In the meantime, council staff offered comment about what had been proposed and public feedback to this in submissions and at a hearing last month.
Strong views were received both for and against lifting a prohibition on dogs in the Octagon, Princes St and George St between the Exchange and Knox Church, the council said.
The proposal there is to allow dogs on leads and staff recommended this be adopted.
Applying this to King Edward St and South Dunedin between Hillside and Macandrew Rds was less contentious and staff recommended adoption of the proposed change there.
The issue that attracted the most feedback was the proposed introduction of a cap on the number of dogs a person may have in their charge in a public place.
There had been increasing concern about lack of control associated with multiple dogs per owner and the council proposed this not exceed six dogs and that no more than two should be off their leashes.
However, this raised fears about the impact on dog-walking businesses.
Staff then recommended the six-dog limit, but that exemptions be allowed for people with permits.
"A permit could be revoked if conditions are breached," city council staff said.
Woodside Glen residents Ray and Eve Beardsmore were two people who presented arguments at the hearing, saying dogs should be prohibited from the area.
This clashed with the council’s proposal, which would allow dogs off leash on unformed legal roads.
Mr Beardsmore said a reserve above the glen was set aside for the people of the area after the death of landowner Herbert Marquis Carr in 1952.
Mrs Beardsmore said the will left the land in trust for the benefit of Woodside people "and not for the benefit of dogs from the entire Dunedin area".
"As beneficiaries of the law, we can challenge an unfavourable decision in a court of law."
Mr Beardsmore also wrote to council chief executive Sandy Graham on the subject.
Ms Graham responded she could not intervene in the hearings process, but the terms of the will would be considered by the committee.
Staff recommended adoption of the proposal and advised being clear the Woodside Glen track would still be an on-leash area, but the reserve would be off-leash — "the proposal aims only to tidy up the unformed legal roads rule, as it is unclear where these roads are".
Mrs Beardsmore noted the staff communication did not mention the will and this troubled her.
Having proposed an on-leash area for the beach beside the Westwood Recreation Reserve amid safety concerns for horses and riders, staff recommended the committee consider a rule in which this would apply if dogs were within a certain distance of horses there.
Several submitters at the hearing raised concerns about wildlife being vulnerable at Pūrākaunui Beach if dogs were allowed off their leashes.
Staff recommended dogs either be prohibited from part of the beach or be on their leads in this section.
