Thank you to everyone who shared their feedback on the Mount Waverley Linear Reserve dog off-leash upgrades. Your input has been instrumental in assisting the project team and designers in refining and finalising the plan in line with the project's budget and scope.

Consultation took place from 7 June - 28 July 2024, with feedback received via the online survey, in-person consultation at the community drop-in sessions, emails, letters and phone calls.

Consultation findings show that the community is generally in favour of the concept design, with 7 key themes of feedback emerging. These relate to the designation of the dog off-leash area, the 1500mm proposed fencing and double gates along Waverley Road, the digging pit, the Heany Street fence, the planting buffer zone, the rose garden and the use of funds for other projects.

For more information, please see the Feedback Summary Report.

You can also view the final design and key modifications to the concept below.

In response to community feedback, we have amended the final design with the following key modifications:

• Waverley Road Fence and Gates – Changed to 1,200 mm high black mesh fence with a 1.2m wide single gate with stop plate and self-closing hinges and a maintenance vehicle access gate. The fence will still provide a safety barrier from dogs running onto the busy Waverley Road, the set back and the black mesh will improve visual amenity, and the single gate with a self-closing hinge and stop plate will ensure accessibility. Additional garden bed plantings near the gates will also be included to soften the fence visibility.

• Digging Pit – In response to some concerns from residents about the cleanliness of the digging pit, we have modified the design to remove the digging pit and replace with boulders for informal seating and climbing opportunities for both dogs and children.

• Heany Street Fence – Concerns regarding dogs running through the carpark to the vet on the corner or Heany Street and Waverley Road were raised at the community drop-in session. We've addressed this issue by modifying the design to upgrade the ageing fence along Heany Street into the car park, with a post and rail fence with pedestrian and vehicle access and replacing the existing low log fence at the entrance to the reserve from the Heany Street carpark, with a post and rail fence with plantings and boulders to create more of a visual barrier to slow down dogs. A removable bollard will be installed to allow for maintenance vehicle access. Note, all dogs should be under effective control if off-leash and these visual barriers are aimed to assist with dog control.

• Extra planting buffer around the playground – on further review, the existing barrier plantings around the playground do not require additional plants. New signage 20m from the playground will be installed to the south along the pathway to remind dog owners that dogs must be on leash within 20m of the playground when in use.

Please refer to the Feedback Summary Report for the full findings and Council's response.

We are pleased to announce that the project has now entered the detailed design phase, which we expect to complete by the end of August 2024.

The project is currently ahead of schedule. The team is working diligently to implement these improvements by 30 June 2025, so the community can enjoy them as soon as possible.

Click 'Follow' above to stay updated with this project.

We created a draft concept plan for proposed enhancements to the dog off-leash area at Mount Waverley Linear Reserve (including Heany Street and Beverley Grove Reserves), Mount Waverley.

Monash Council has secured $500,000 in funding through round one of the Victorian Government's New and Upgraded Dog Parks program, which seeks to improve the state's open space network to ensure that Victorians have easy access to much-needed green open space to exercise, relax or enjoy the outdoors with their dogs.

Like other councils, Monash is experiencing population growth and pressure on our public open spaces. With a continued increase in the number of registered dogs in Monash, planning and managing off-leash areas for people to walk and exercise their dogs is critical.

Following extensive community consultation, Council endorsed a new Off-Leash Policy in November 2022 to guide how we manage our open space with increasing dog ownership in Monash. This process included a review of off-leash areas across the municipality.

As part of this review, the dog off-leash area at the south end of Mount Waverley Linear Reserve (Heany Street Reserve) was extended. The off-leash area was increased to include the north reserve (Beverley Grove).

The proposed Mount Waverley Linear Reserve upgrades are designed to provide a welcoming environment for the whole community and a place that dog owners can come to actively recreate and socialise with their dogs.

Feedback was sought by Sunday 28 July 2024.

The draft concept design included the below improvements:

• Dog enrichment elements - digging pit, log clusters and clamber mound equipment
• New pathway
• Additional seating options throughout the reserves
• Safety fencing and gates along the busy Waverley Road frontage
• Bollard and single-tube fences at the Heany Street car park entrance
• Barrier planting and/or landscape barriers (new/retained) to create an informal barrier along other entries
• Additional drink fountains with dog bowls
• Additional bins
• Waste bag dispensers
• Reinforced buffer plantings between the playground and off-leash area
• New signage with dog off-leash appropriate messaging (and dog etiquette signage).

We recognise the social, mental, emotional, and physical health and wellbeing benefits that owning dogs provide to our society. These off-leash area improvements have been designed to provide:

• A hub where dog owners can congregate and network
• Opportunities for education/awareness and community development and ‘place making’ initiatives
• An alternative and low-cost recreation option for dog owners and their dogs.

This area will remain a public open space asset that will be accessible to all residents, not only dog owners.