At its meeting on Tuesday 13 September 2022, Council will consider additional community feedback before it will decide whether to adopt the Ashfield Park Plan of Management.

At its Ordinary Council meeting on Tuesday 14 June 2022 Council decided that further in person consultation was needed before the elected representatives would adopt the plan.

The in person consultation occurred Saturday 30 July. The topic of the engagement related to dog off-leash area in the park. The feedback received during this session indicated a significant support for for an off-leash dogl exercise area to be established in the northeastern park of Ashfield Park adjacent to Ormond Street. Community support was evident in establishing a partial L shaped chain wire mesh fence (900mm high) to be installed along Ormond Street up to and including a small portion of Paramatta Road. The fence is also to be landscaped. The space advocated by the community for a future off leash companion animal exercise area is not a fully enclosed dog park and will remain as a shared space for community recreation within the park. The fencing proposed is to act as a barrier to the road and does not negate the legal responsibility that companion animals must always be under the effective control of their owners. Costings to undertake this work have been estimated at 170lm which equates to $35k. There is currently no budget for such works hence subject to future adoption of a Plan of Management for the park, budget estimates for this work will need to be considered in future years. The image below shows the in person consultation including the qustions asked on the day.

It is noted that there were a range of additional submissions received from the community on the proposed dog off leash area, a number of which were opposed to the establishment of an off-leash area in the park

It is noted that there were a range of additional submissions received from the community on the proposed dog off leash area, a number of which were opposed to the establishment of an off-leash area in the park.

Submissions were also received from:

• Ashfield Bowling Cub
• Ashfield Pirates
• Ashfield Community Garden