Kiama Downs is the next location in the local government area likely to get a fenced off leash dog area with Jamberoo’s new facility a couple of months away from completion.

Councillor Stuart Larkins has led the push for Kiama Council to launch its first Dog Friendly Spaces Strategy, which was adopted at the June Ordinary Meeting.

“In the past we had seen a very ad hoc approach to the decisions around dogs spaces, in particular a big focus on the beaches,” said Cr Larkins, voicing his views as a Councillor, not on behalf of Council.

“It didn’t really identify the issue, particularly in Jamberoo where not only was there debate about whether a dog space should be fenced or not, or whether they needed one.”

With more than 9000 dogs in the local government area among the human population of 23,000, Council needs to provide several friendly spaces for the canine community and their owners to spend quality time together and to get in some much-needed socialisation and exercise.

The Jamberoo fenced off leash area is being constructed and is due to be complete in September with recent adjustments to the plan ensuring there will be spaces for small and large dogs to roam.

Cr Larkins said the Jamberoo sporting community will be thrilled once the new FOLA is up and running because they have had ongoing problems with dog owners using Kevin Walsh Oval and other sports fields and leaving more than just footprints.

He was confident the Jamberoo space would be big enough to give local dog owners plenty of room for their canines to stretch their four legs.

“A lot of the sporting community raised feedback through that Strategy around the difficulties they experienced of people using the sports fields for running dogs and the dog waste that is then produced,” he added.

“The whole point about establishing the five-year strategy is it outlines where dogs should and shouldn’t go but it also creates the community expectations about the safety and standards for dogs within our LGA.”

Kiama Downs is likely to be the next cab off the rank for a designated area for dogs and a location would need to be locked down after a community consultation period.

“When I moved the motion in the Council meeting I made an addition that Council explores the opportunity for a fenced dog park in Kiama Downs,” Cr Larkins said.

“We’ve got 9000 dogs and a high proportion of them are in the Kiama Downs area.”