Many Sunshine Coast dog owners hope a controversial plan to reduce beach access will be discarded or significantly altered, after they were involved in an emotional meeting with the mayor.
More than 100 concerned people, and at least as many dogs, attended a Save Stumers Creek Off Leash Beach gathering on Saturday in the rain at Coolum Beach, where about 1km of off-leash area could become on-leash.
It’s one of several proposals in a Draft Dog Exercise Area Regional Plan and Network Blueprint.
Mayor Rosanna Natoli previously stated that the possible changes, including more dog parks but less beach space, were designed to “meet the needs of dog owners, while respecting our region’s environmental and community values”.
But dog owners were quick to voice their concerns and the hastily formed Save Stumers Creek Off Leash Dog Beach Committee promptly called a meeting.
The group’s founder Bree Logie said several people were distressed at the gathering, which was attended by Cr Natoli and council CEO John Baker.
“What really hit our heart most is the number of grown adults in the audience who have been emotionally impacted by the thought of losing our off-leash beach, in favour of on-leash,” she said.
“I had to comfort grown men and women who were crying: everyday people at all ages in tears.
“It is absolutely heartbreaking.”
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She said the meeting, at times, became heated.
“There were some locals, through sheer emotion, who loudly voiced their anger,” she said.
“We did need to settle the crowd on a couple of occasions. However, it is testament to these passionate people that they also apologised and the Q&A was able to seamlessly continue.”
Ms Logie said the audience became particularly upset “when John suggested the community needed to prove why we needed to maintain Stumers Creek as an off-leash location”.
“The (audience’s) response was that council needs to prove to the community why our off-leash beach is being targeted.”
The draft plan includes 142 pages of detail but Ms Logie called on council to provide more information.
“The council have cited dog attacks and the environment as key factors for increasing off-leash areas. However, despite several requests, we have been unable to receive accurate data to support this,” she said.
“On the other hand, former Stumers Creek Catchment Committee member Gary Young pointed out that humans are the number one impact to the environment, and not dogs.”
Cr Natoli said she recognised local dog owners’ worries.
“The community meeting presented a great opportunity to meet with so many residents from the Coolum area and beyond,” she said.
“The local community is passionate about exercising their dogs on the beach and in the creek, and we heard their questions and concerns.
“We encourage everyone to share their feedback by filling out the survey before March 7, or visiting one of our pop-up events.”
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A Sunshine Coast Council spokesperson emphasised that no decisions had been made and that people could still have their say on the proposals.
“The Dog Exercise Area Plan and Network Blueprint is currently a draft plan open for community consultation and feedback,” they said.
“The Have Your Say platform and pop-up events around the region have been crucial in collecting community feedback about the draft plan.
“The opportunity for community feedback on the draft plan has been extended by one week, after increased community interest.”
Ms Logie was optimistic a solution that suited all parties could be found and she thanked Cr Natoli for attending.
“The mayor gave us hope to be able to positively work with the council on an adaptive management strategy for Stumers Creek, based on Stumers Creek specific data.”
“We’re hoping to work with council and this week we’re presenting a letter of intent to council with a view to working with them on an adaptive management plan.
“(But) we need council’s detailed risk assessments and statistics before we can make a detailed report to present to them.”
