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South Surrey dog-park plan gets rethink

Parks department revising plan after receiving feedback from irate dog owners
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(From left) Jennifer Green

Surrey’s parks department appears to have had second thoughts about the potential location of new fencing in South Surrey’s Dogwood Park, a favourite off-leash park for the dog-owning community.

Ted Urich, manager of parks planning, research and design told Peace Arch News this week that revised plans will actually increase – rather than reduce – the off-leash area of the park.

Signs posted in the park earlier this month had seemed to suggest that fencing improvements in the park to be completed by “summer 2015” would whittle down the area for exercising dogs off-leash – prompting a chorus of disapproval from dog owners.

At the time, parks manager Owen Croy insisted the city was merely seeking feedback on the idea.

“We got a lot of feedback on the proposed location of the fence,” Urich confirmed Tuesday. “We heard loud and clear. We’re re-drafting plans to take into account the feedback, and the reworked plans will be posted at the park and on the city’s website.”

Urich said that while plans were not finalized, they would amount to “increasing the area for off-leash dogs,” which will necessitate some path and trail realignment.

He said the city recognizes the value of off-leash parks, but also the importance of trails and paths to walkers, runners and cyclists. He was optimistic, he said, that the potential for confrontations between different types of users can be minimized.

 

“We hope to be able to accommodate all uses of the park,” he said.