DEPUTATION - Dogs on public beach in the "dog prohibited" area Applicant: Geoff Mallinson Speakers: Geoff Mallinson

Thank you. Right here. I'll have to read this so I cover all the most important points. My name is Geoff Mallinson, I live adjacent to Tingira adjacent to the at sunrise to Sunshine Beach. I particularly came to that area and purchased a house there because I like to run and swim and walk, same with my wife, on the so-called prohibited dog area beach because we considered that would be a safe spot considering there's a large amount of Noosa Council area which has unleashed dogs, a large amount, we're very lucky because in Sydney there are no dogs allowed on beaches, only selected areas which are very carefully monitored. And policed. You know when we came here three years ago to live permanently we thought that would be a safe place to be able to run unfortunately this is not the case that dog prohibited area is used a lot by minority by the way of dog owners majority of dog owners don't actually want to take their dog to the beach anyway so we're catering for a minority in the first place and of that minority there is another minority of very vocal people who think that they can just come anywhere and do what they like and we find that constantly there are dogs on the beach in that area 24/7 I can go down there and always a dog somewhere on the beach, despite many letters and complaints to Council the problem is getting worse and I believe that it's mostly due to the lack of funds and manpower that's allocated to policing it older people like myself who have thin skin we can't risk a dog jumping up on us even playfully because rips the skin off and then we've got to go to hospital get stitched up and recoup from it so it's quite frightening to be running along the beach the dog racing towards you or chasing you and you think hell if it gets near me it's going to injure me and so on many occasions since we've been here we've had to run into the water to get away from dogs now okay maybe only a few of those dogs are going to attack us but it's risky for us also young children that are on the beach babies and mothers and people are at risk of dogs who are running around off leash and this prohibited area so they shouldn't be there in the first place so I'm coming to you tonight to plead with you to do something because it's spoiling our life you know we bought a house adjacent to a beach which is supposed to have no dogs on it but it's not the case and we feel that the Council this is very generous they've allocated a lot of area to people to take and exercise their dogs and mostly off-leash which also find hard to out how we can allocate a beach area and say that for dogs to exercise on but we're really excluding the people who are afraid of or for some reason don't want dogs running around near them when they're on the beach I've been attacked by a dog in the past a couple of times but only once actually injured and of course I'm afraid of them under those circumstances when you go to the beach where we go we've noticed that the signage is inadequate it's very small signs about the dog on a big sign that nobody reads and we've noticed this regularly because we go to the beach and we often say to people if their dog is near us and annoying us or whatever he won't take a new dog if the beach is a prohibited area so it's the going replies are we know we don't care or the other reply is also oh we didn't see any signs oh you know they're innocently in their area and I agree that it's quite easy for them not to see the signs so the signs are a big issue other councils I've been to have good, large visible signs that are a deterrent in themselves because if people come to the beach with their dog and they see a really obvious sign that says dogs prohibited they're not going to go any further but if it's a little insignificant sign half the time they won't be able to see it and when you get on the beach the other problem is that there are no signs that are visible when you're on the beach so if you're in a dog exercise area where you're supposed to be and you start walking your dog along towards Sunshine Beach from say Peregian or you're even about to take an onward castaways you're not going to know that you've just come out of a exercise area and you're in a prohibited area so there's a real signage issue that needs to be addressed. Up the other end at the national park which I find also very hard to believe that in the past the council's has made a decision to have an exercise area in a little corner adjacent to the national park which is caboo with the people who are interested in protecting wildlife. And when you come from the national park, which lots and of people do, walking and running, down onto Sunshine Beach, no signs to say that they're entering an unwashed hog area. Also, that little corner is very inaccessible to the general public. The parking is very limited. There is no real parking. Area that accesses that corner. There's a small amount of parking. So, of course, what the people who do use it do, they park at a surf club, take their dog on the beach in the non-dog area, and walk it down to the dog area. So, it should never been allowed to have a dog exercise area in that little corner. Catering for a very few amount of people, they're creating a very big problem for Council. So, my main reason for coming to Council is to make everybody aware of the situation. Because I have written countless letters and made many, complaints, my wife and I. And we feel that we need to be heard, because we're the silent majority, really. The minority of dog owners, and I'm saying minority of the minority, very vocal and get a lot of attention, and a lot of reaction from Council. They don't want to upset the dog owners. Well, they're not upsetting the dog owners, they're upsetting a minority of the minority, who actually want to use the beach with their dog. Lots of people I dogs like me in the past avoided going to the beach with their dog because they had problems. And other little irritating things is that we go along and we people find that are just getting a doggy poo the doggy bag and they're just leaving it at the bottom of the walkway. They're not looking for a rubbish bin to put it in but they're just leaving it behind. And we're constantly putting that in the bin for them because they're not doing the right thing. So policing a big issue. Is we've had a lot of verbal conversations and correspondence with Council and the head rangers are doing the best job they possibly can with the limited amount of staff and funding that's been allocated. Do the job so this is a big issue and I think it's the main point is the Council needs to take the bull by the horns and say look you know let's get this sorted because it's not right let's allocate the funds staff, let's improve the signage and we should get some good results love living in Noosa, we think it's the best place in the world and we find that the general acceptance of people in the area is that you know everyone's really friendly and happy and we would love to be that way. We're just concerned about our safety and the safety of other people, particularly kids. My son for example came up from Sydney, came down the beach with his little still biting and kind of having and complained, 'Hey dad, there's a dog running all over the beach down there in a prohibited area. I have to protect Orion.' I said, 'Well, you know, we're constantly complaining. Maybe I'll go and seek Council and try and do something about it.' And so that's why I'm here today. So thank you very much for listening to me and hopefully we can get something done.