DOG-GONE: Permanent pet ban at Ocean Grove beach

DOGS will be barred for good from Ocean Grove Main Beach under new control orders adopted by the City of Greater Geelong this week.

An 805-metre stretch between Ocean Grove Surf Lifesaving Club and the Hodgson Street car park, or 13W to 15W, will have a permanent prohibition following a vote at Tuesday night’s council meeting.

But the city will relax rules elsewhere, with off-leash periods to start in March instead of May (excluding Easter) at other parts of Ocean Grove and Barwon Heads beaches.

The city will also aim to simplify orders and have stricter enforcement of compliance under the resolution.

Councillors agreed with a recommendation to continue the exclusion zone, which it said would strike a balance between safety for all beach users and allowing dog owners room to share the beach with their pets.

“These orders allow for dogs to be allowed on the beach at most other areas during the autumn months of March and April, where there are very few people on the beach doing anything other than walking their dogs,” Bellarine Ward councillor Stephanie Asher said.

“The orders also provide a dog-free section for people preferring not to come across dogs any time of the year.

“It’s impossible to please all of the people all of the time. But it is possible to have a crack at a good compromise, and I think this is it.”

A vote to accept the new rules was carried unanimously, though Cr Anthony Aitken said he was not entirely convinvcd how the new regulations would be received.

“I’m still uncomfortable that we’re banning dogs on the beach.

“It has some support in local community but some people don’t want to have their freedom taken away.”

The new rules follow a two-year trial of dog controls at Ocean Grove, when the city permitted dogs on leashes between May and November in 2021 and prohibited dog walking permanently this year.

The trial attracted mixed feedback from beach users, with the city enforcing the long-term ban despite just over a quarter of residents favouring the change.

A survey this year found 28 per cent of respondents preferred no dogs allowed at Main Beach year-round, while 71 per cent wanted pets allowed during winter (27 per cent said on leash, 44 per cent off leash).

Dog owners accounted for 76 per cent of replies.

The two-year test followed feedback in 2019/20 that found there was a need for a dog-free beach area.

Respondents such as aged care and therapeutic surfing providers supported the measure in 2021 to minimise risk and cater for people scared of the animals.

The new rules will make an exception for assistance animals such as seeing eye dogs, which are still allowed on the beach.