A SIX-YEAR fight for basic shade and seating at Camira Small Dog Park has intensified, with frustrated residents questioning why Ipswich City Council has been unable to deliver a solution despite years of complaints and petitions.
Camira resident Brian Smith has said that almost a year after Local Ipswich News first reported on the “Neglect of the Camira Small Dog Park” nothing had changed.
“We are not requesting the Taj Mahal to be constructed, just a simple seating and shade structure for several aged citizens to let their dogs run off-leash and socialise with like-minded people,” Mr Smith said.
The park has a single bench beneath a tree, offering limited protection from the summer sun or rain, with Mr Smith questioning why such a basic request had remained unresolved for so long.
“We really just want Council to review and adjust their negative viewpoint, and provide some equality as ratepayers who also pay a dog registration fee, but receive nothing to show for it,” he said.
The frustration has been heightened by what residents see as a stark difference between Camira and other Ipswich dog parks.
Mr Smith pointed to Goodna Dog Park, where he said both the small and large dog areas had shade structures and seating, while the recently developed dog park at Limestone Park had also been provided with seating, shade and modern facilities.
“It doesn’t pass the pub test as far as we are concerned,” Mr Smith said.
Deputy Mayor and Division 2 Councillor Nicole Jonic said Council had previously considered improvements to the Camira Recreation Park dog off-leash area, including following a petition lodged by community members in 2022.
She said the facility was built about 20 years ago, before Council’s current prescribed standards for off-leash areas were in place.
“The Camira Recreation Park dog off-leash area is constrained, and to bring the existing facility to current standards would impact the nearby netball courts,” Cr Jonic said.
“Regardless of not meeting current standards, in response to the petition, the existing facility was segregated to a small and large dog area.”
Cr Jonic said Council was committed to finding a suitable long-term solution for all users of Camira Recreation Park.
Community engagement was undertaken earlier this year to better understand how the park, including the dog off-leash area and netball courts, was being used and to gather feedback about future options.
Division 2 Councillor Paul Tully said that feedback was now being collated and reviewed.
“At this stage, it would be premature for Council to make any announcements about potential future improvements before this process is completed,” Cr Tully said.
“Council values the feedback provided by the community and while it may not be possible to implement every suggestion, feedback provided will help inform future enhancements where feasible to ensure the dog off-leash area meets community needs and expectations.”
Mr Smith stated he had 66 years of workplace health and safety experience across major civil construction and tunnel projects and questioned whether the park itself was appropriately located, claiming cricket balls from the adjoining oval could enter the enclosure and potentially strike park users.
“We tried to tell their engineers, when they were planning the Small Dog Park, that it was in the wrong location and that a better location would be on the southern side of the Large Dog Park, but they knew better,” he said.
Mr Smith said many of the people using the park were senior citizens, and the facility was not simply somewhere to exercise their dogs, but a meeting place where residents could socialise, maintain friendships and remain connected.
