Off-leash dog walkers the casualty of $17 million upgrade to Bob Saker Oval

Dog owners who use Bob Saker Oval in Forest Hill are set to lose the off-leash area following a Whitehorse Council plan to expand sports facilities.

🏗️ Recreation revamp: Estimated to cost more than $17 million, the draft master plan for Mahoneys Reserve includes proposals for a new cricket and soccer pavilion and the renovation of the Scouts hall. 

• Under the plan, off-leash dog exercise would be banned from Bob Saker Oval. Dog owners would instead share the adjacent South Mid and South West ovals in the reserve’s western section with sporting users.

• South Mid Oval would be fenced to 1.5 metres.

🏏⚽Canine clash: A council report said Bob Saker Oval has been “significantly impacted” by holes dug by dogs, with Nunawading Cricket Club volunteers required to check and fill holes before matches.

• Nunawading City Football Club stopped using the oval as a main pitch about four years ago due to injury risks. Both clubs declined to comment.

🦴 Mingling mutts: Jo Larkin visits the oval regularly with her sister Kimberly, who is living with intellectual disabilities, autism and anxiety, and said other dog walkers provided her sister with a social outlet.

• 🗣️ “They have actually knocked on her door to see where she was when she was unwell,” Larkin told the Eastern Melburnian. “To have access to a friendly and supportive community group means the world to Kim and to our family.”

• Jo said instead of sharing spaces with sporting clubs, the council should include a fully-fenced, off-leash dog exercise area in the plan.

⏭️ What’s next? The final round of consultation closes on Sunday May 24, with a final plan expected to be endorsed later this year.