A 'balancing act' as council votes to fence dogs out of park, sparking safety concerns

Australia Broadcast Center

19 hours ago

A council in Melbourne's north wants to fence off a popular park to dogs, but the move has some locals concerned about women's safety.
Merri-Bek City Council voted to build a temporary fence around Tate Reserve — on the Merri Creek in Coburg — to allow the park to rehabilitate and create a habitat for a local population of swamp wallabies.
But some dog walkers argue the fence will push dogs, their owners, cyclists and pedestrians onto one path around the outside, creating safety concerns in an area where women have experienced harassment and violence.
Tate Reserve is a large, 32,400 square metre forested area along the Merri Creek, with multiple walking paths snaking through eucalypts and wattle trees.
When the ABC visited, the area was busy with dog walkers, runners, cyclists, and a bush kinder group.
It's listed — officially — as a dog on-lead area, but there are no signs at the park, and it's been used as an off-leash area for years.
The council plans to put a fence around 17,350 square metres of the park closest to the creek.
It would leave 15,050 square metres around the edge of the park for dogs off-leash, including the path around the perimeter of the fence.
The Friends of Merri Creek (FOMC) group lobbied the council to put up the fence, arguing it would help create a refuge for a small population of swamp wallabies who move up and down the creek.
Nick Williams, the president of FOMC, and Professor of Horticulture and Urban Ecology at the University of Melbourne, regularly walks his dog, Polly, downstream at Northcote Park.
"The intention has always been that Merri Creek will be a haven for people and wildlife, and we need to be able to get the balance right there," he said.
He described the council's plan to keep dogs out of part of the park as "a fair compromise" between people, their pets and the environment.
"There's some areas of the creek where that sharing is incompatible," he said.
He said there is a population of swamp wallabies further north at Fawkner, and the fenced area would create a refuge for them to migrate along the creek.
"They are threatened and chased and killed by dogs," he said.
Professor Williams says the presence of dogs in the area means there isn't a dense cover of small native shrubs, or habitat for small birds like fairy wrens, who can eat insects and help maintain the health of the trees.
"There's lots of areas for dogs, but it's just there's some areas we want to protect, where there's good habitat, where we want to exclude them," he said.
Locals who walk their dogs in the area say the plan fences out dogs from too much of the park, and will make them feel unsafe.
Rebecca Yock, who regularly walks in the area with her golden retriever, says she feels safer when she can see other people in the area around her.
"So it's so nice — the dogs love it and it's beautiful — but it's so nice to know when you're walking here that you'll always run across someone, walk with them and meet them.
"It feels much safer when you've got people here."
Safety is an issue that hits particularly hard in this part of Melbourne.
In 2019, a man raped and nearly drowned a woman just around the bend, in broad daylight.
Hundreds of people marched to demand women's safety, and in 2020 the local council commissioned a review into how to improve the area.
The report by Monash University's XYX Lab acknowledged the cultural aspect of gendered violence. But it found women felt safer in natural spaces when they're well-lit, with wide paths and more people around.
In 2023, women told the ABC they continued to feel unsafe along the creek, some citing personal experiences of harassment and assault.
Laura Black lives close to Tate Reserve, and walks in the area with her two young kids and two dogs. She said having multiple paths weaving through the park helped her feel safe.
"There have been a few times where I've felt incredibly uncomfortable," she said.
"It is a safety concern if you're fencing off a whole area and there's no way for women with young kids or dogs to get out of the way, if there's someone coming up the other way or coming up behind them.
"This is a beautiful park, but we do have to be wary that there are people who might use the space in not nice ways."
She says the upper path can get slippery, and she's also worried about crashes, particularly involving young children in prams.
She says she's a member of the Friends of Merri Creek, and is passionate about the environment, but she thinks building a fence to keep dogs out goes too far. She's one of about 900 people who signed a petition calling on the council to make the park off-leash for dogs.
"I do think that the two can co-exist, I do think we can have a happy balance," she said.
"That's the thing that's upset us the most that there's been no compromise, and we're very, very blindsided by the decision council has made."
Mayor Helen Davidson, also a dog owner, stressed the fence is part of a broader pilot across the municipality, and will be re-evaluated in six months.
She said it's about balancing the needs of dogs, people and the environment.
"Everyone loves their furry friend, so we've just got to make sure these spaces cater to all different user groups," she said.
She said the council had responded to concerns about safety, including by removing shrubbery to help with visibility, and upgrading the shared path.
"We've actually widened it because we've recognised it's going to be a very well-used space," she said.
She said there was also gravel to slow down cyclists at key points.
Cr Davidson stressed the council is open to receiving feedback on the pilot, and the feedback will help councillors decide what happens next.
"We're going to be listening intently to that feedback and balancing the different needs," she said.
She said many people had told the council in a recent consultation that the environment is a priority along the Merri Creek.
"We know the Merri Creek is quite a precious ecological space," she said.
"So many people have voiced to us that that is a priority for them, as well as having this space to use for themselves, for their own recreation, and to enjoy with their pets."