New Inverloch dog park or ‘cage of rage’?

YOU don’t want to be ‘biting the hand that feeds you’ but at less than 1000m2, not much bigger than a house block, the new Inverloch Dog Park is being criticised as unfit for purpose.

The dog park project, fully funded by Bass Coast Shire Council at a cost of $81,208 (ex GST), has only just been completed but is already drawing plenty of criticism online.

• Size of a house block so won't allow for many dogs at the same time, especially larger dogs, will have no room to run. Might as well stay home.
• Looks ok for the smaller dogs. I doubt this will be big enough. Where is the one for the bigger dogs?
• This isn’t fit for purpose. It’s too small, limited to one area, and falls well short of current dog park standards. Council was given clear feedback and shown better examples from other shires during the working groups, but has chosen to ignore that input. A disappointing outcome and a waste of ratepayer money.

Others have queried the location in an expanding residential area where open space is at a premium:

• It's not the right location. It's in a park that is used a lot by kids and adults for cricket, footy, picnics, etc. It's right in the middle of a residential area (noise!) and there is limited parking.
• Looks too small to me especially if there were more than a couple of dogs. This park needs more than just a dog park. It needs BBQ area updated seating and a children’s playground as there are so many young families in this expanding area.

In fact, the controversy mirrors one presently raging in the inner west suburb of Five Dock in Sydney where locals say a dog park of 1850m2, almost twice the size of Inverloch’s new dog park, has become a “cage of rage” and a dirt bowl because it is too small to manage socialising behaviour of dogs.

As a result, the local council has decided to triple the size of the park to approximately 5600m2.

President of the Phillip Island Dog Owners Association, Cheryl Owens, said her group tried to advise the shire that the park was too small.

“Unfortunately, they’ve gone ahead and built this park at Inverloch before coming out with their own guidelines which are calling for a minimum dog park size of 3000m2,” said Ms Owens.

“I’ve seen the concerns expressed by Inverloch dog owners and I agree with them.”

A member of the dog owners group, Greg Price said the new Inverloch Dog Park might be alright for a few small dogs to exercise at one time, but said it resembled a small dog park you might have in an inner suburban area like Fitzroy, rather than in a country town.

“The accepted size for a dog park in an urban area is between 4000m2 and 12,000m2. It’s not just a matter of having enough room for dogs to interact safely, you’ve also got to allow for turf recovery,” said Mr Price.

“If those who are critical of dogs being exercised on beaches think this is a better option, they’ve got no idea. You will be creating the “cage of rage” situation you are talking about and also turn the area into a dust bowl or a mud heap. No one will want to use it,” he said.

Regular uses of dog parks, when they visit other towns and neighbourhoods, say if you watch dog behaviour in these parks, dogs need to be able to diffuse the interest of bigger or more insistent dogs by being able to dodge, weave and run away as required, something that can’t be achieved in a smaller area.

An Inverloch resident has called for a change of design, with a bigger area and separate parts for small and big dogs.

Others have criticised the low height of the fence around the dog park, saying they represented little more than a hurdle for kelpies and other dogs with climbing ability.

So, is it ‘back to the drawing board’ for the Bass Coast Shire Council? You be the judge.

Why Bass Coast’s Inverloch solution fails the tail-wag test

Contributed by Greg Price

The Bass Coast Shire Council’s recent announcement regarding the new dedicated dog park off Ullathornes Road in Inverloch has been presented as a milestone for local pet owners. But for anyone who understands canine ethology — or has read a standard planning manual — the proposed size of 1000m² isn't a "park", it’s a high-density holding pen.

By touting this as a "solution" to the long-standing tension between beach access and conservation, the Council is effectively trying to fit a Great Dane’s needs into a Chihuahua’s handbag.

Failing the Minimum Standards Industry best practices for municipal infrastructure are clear. Guidelines from neighbouring Victorian councils (such as Latrobe City) and peak bodies suggest a preferable minimum size of 3000m² for a fenced dog park to be functional.

At just 1000m², the Inverloch site is 66% smaller than the recommended baseline. Regional parks, which are meant to serve as "destination" spots for high-energy breeds, should ideally be even larger. A space this cramped creates a "pressure cooker" environment where dogs cannot maintain appropriate social distances, leading to increased arousal and, inevitably, more frequent scuffles.

The RSPCA Perspective: While the RSPCA Victoria focuses on "effective control" and safety, their broader animal welfare philosophy emphasises the need for quality exercise. For a dog park to be a legitimate alternative to a beach, it must offer:

* Obstacle-free runs: Brisbane City Council standards, for instance, mandate a straight run of at least 60 meters for dogs to reach a full gallop. You simply cannot achieve this in a 1000m² square without the dog hitting a fence every three seconds.

* Environmental Enrichment: A park should be more than a patch of dirt. It needs "activity zones", trees, and varied terrain. In a 1000m² space, once you add a gate, a water bowl, and two benches, there is virtually no room left for the "enrichment" that keeps dogs mentally healthy.

* The "Mud-Pit" prophecy, from a maintenance standpoint, the Council is setting itself up for a budgetary headache. Small parks with high traffic lose their turf integrity almost instantly. Without enough space to rotate "rest zones" — a practice common in properly sized parks — this 1000m² plot will transform into a dust bowl in summer and a mud pit in winter.

The Reality Check: A standard AFL oval is roughly 15,000m². Bass Coast is asking Inverloch’s entire dog population to share a space smaller than 7% of a local footy ground.

A thinly veiled threat to beach access? The most cynical aspect of this "mini-park" is its timing. Local owners fear that the opening of this inland facility will be used as a "check-box" justification to further restrict off-leash access to Inverloch’s beaches. If the Council intends to move dogs off the sand to protect shorebirds — a noble goal — they must provide a genuine equivalent. Replacing kilometers of coastline with a 1000m² fenced patch isn't a compromise; it’s an eviction.

The Verdict: If Bass Coast wants to solve the dog park issue, they need to stop thinking in "pocket-park" dimensions for a regional town. Inverloch deserves a space that respects both the animal’s need to run and the owner’s right to a functional community asset. Until then, this new space is nothing more than an expensive exercise in under-delivery.