New dog park to be built, off-leash times introduced in Murray Bridge

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Dog owners, rejoice – you’ll soon have more opportunities to let your fur babies run wild in Murray Bridge.

A new dog park will be built, and off-leash times trialled at two other parks, as part of a council plan to give dogs more opportunities for recreation.

At present there are only four dog parks in the district.

A fifth will be built somewhere on Murray Bridge’s east side within three years, with a concept design to be prepared in 2023-24 and construction carried out in 2024-25.

The new dog park would be co-located at an existing park.

A recent council survey suggested Murray Bridge Showground as a possibility.

In the meantime, off-leash time-share arrangements will be trialled at two other parks over the next 12 months.

Dogs will be allowed to run off-leash at Avoca Dell Reserve and Tumbella Drive Reserve from 6-9am and 5-8pm during daylight savings, and 6am-6pm in the cooler months.

The trial will begin as soon as signage, bins and doggie bag dispensers can be installed at the two locations.

The four existing dog parks will also get upgrades, starting with new drinking water stations at Johnstone Park, Tim Overall Reserve and White Park by the end of this year.

A total of 110 people responded to the council’s survey about local dog parks.

Several said they were worried about gaps in fences where their dogs could escape, or that the existing parks were too boring or not shady enough.

More than 80 per cent of respondents were in favour of having an off-leash area somewhere on Murray Bridge’s riverfront.

More than 4800 dogs were registered in the Murray Bridge district in 2020-21, including more than 580 who lived on the east side.