Community
12 June, 2024
Inner-city dog ban abolished
AN archaic law which banned dogs in the Cairns CBD has been abolished.
Cairns Regional Council this week removed the prohibition of dogs in the CBD, except for areas around the Esplanade Lagoon, which remain dog-free. It takes effect from July 1.
Mayor Amy Eden, who earlier campaigned to allow dogs in the inner city, said at Wednesday’s council meeting that after 12 years “the ban on dogs in the CBD has come to an end”.
In November last year the council decided to allow amendments to ‘local laws’, to streamline the process for changing dog off-leash areas and animal prohibition areas.
Since about 2011, dogs had been banned in public within the area encompassing Aplin St, McLeod St, Spence St, Sheridan St, Wharf St, the Esplanade (excluding the north eastern footpath adjacent to the Esplanade) and at the lagoon, surrounding parklands and along the pier. Dog owners who disobeyed the rule could be slapped with on-the-spot fines of up to $309 and could face prosecution penalties of up to $3096. But it was rarely enforced.
Last year, Cr Eden, whose former division 5 included the CBD, said she had campaigned for three and a half years for dogs to be allowed in the CBD.
She said “as the CBD undergoes changes due to retail withdrawals, there’s a need to positively activate the space, and people are the key”.
“To achieve this, we must encourage more residents to live in the city, and many want to do so with their furry companions,” Cr Eden said.
Cr Matthew Tickner (division 2) told the council meeting that it made sense to lift the ban as the council encouraged more people to live in the CBD.
He said many older people would want to move into city apartments and would be unhappy if they couldn’t bring “their little apartment dogs with them”.
A council report said the amendments allowed the council to better respond to community desires and improve liveability. “During the four-week public consultation period undertaken as part of the Local Law Amendment project, council received 102 responses regarding dog off-leash areas and animal prohibition areas,” it said. “Almost half of these (48 comments) were in relation to dogs being prohibited in the CBD, which were predominantly in favour of removing and/or reducing the area where dogs where prohibited.”
