Ōmokoroa dog exercise area location: Links View Drive and Precious Family Reserve ruled out

It is now intended to locate the dog park within the future active reserve at the corner of Prole Rd and Ōmokoroa Rd.

Both Links View Drive Reserve and Precious Family Reserve are considered dead dogs as locations for any prospective dog exercise area in Ōmokoroa.

Western Bay of Plenty District councillors discussed the matter at this week’s strategy and policy committee, before ruling out both existing reserves as potential locations.

Community consultation on the location of Ōmokoroa’s proposed dog exercise area ran earlier this year. There were 892 individual submissions from the public, 171 of these were against a dog exercise area and the majority were in support of it.

However, the two proposed locations Links View Drive Reserve and Precious Family Reserve were opposed - 321 and 324 respectively.

The intention was signalled to locate the dog park within the future active reserve at the corner of Prole Rd and Ōmokoroa Rd.

The door was left open for other potential locations identified by the community, community board, or council to be considered if they emerge as viable options. This also acknowledges an element of uncertainty in the planning for the future active reserve.

“We would like to support the longstanding aspirations of many in the community for a dog exercise area, but we also had to consider the strong views for and against each location - Links View Drive Reserve and Precious Family Reserve,” says Western Bay of Plenty Mayor James Denyer.

Planning for the proposed active reserve at the corner of Prole Rd and Ōmokoroa Rd is estimated to begin within the next 10 years.

Dog exercise areas in the Western Bay

The development of a dog exercise area in Ōmokoroa was part of council’s commitment to build four such facilities in the district’s main centres through the last Long Term Plan (2021-31).

Up until October 2023 there was just one off-leash fully fenced dog exercise area in the Western Bay of Plenty district at TECT Park. But backed by community support through the Long Term Plan 2021-2031 (68% of people supported more fully fenced dog exercise areas), the decision was made to develop new dog exercise areas in Te Puke, Ōmokoroa, Katikati and Waihī Beach.

Te Puke’s dog exercise area opened last year at Lawrence Oliver Park, construction of Katikati’s dog exercise area at Donegal Reserve is under way, and Waihī Beach is still to be looked at. These are seen as joint projects between council, community, and external funders so these facilities can become a reality.