Bluewater council is exploring options for an off-leash dog park in the municipality. Bayfield ward councillor Bill Whetstone said it’s been an issue for several years. He said some Bayfield residents wanted one in their village and some residents were opposed to it for a variety of reasons.
Whetstone said about two years ago a group called People and Canine Community (PACC) asked council to look at a new option that would see them locate an off-leash park in the Varna Complex. Whetstone said it was turned over to staff.
“Staff’s done a great job looking through all that kind of stuff and they’ve provided us with some recommendations as to where they suggest the site should be at and I think the top one still is out at the Varna Complex in that area there on one of the ball diamonds,” said Whetstone.
“Council hasn’t been involved in them in the past. We’ve kind of said that’s not something that Bluewater’s going to maintain and fund and then along came the Recreational Master Plan that we just did and one of the top couple of items was we heard from residents that an off-leash park is required,” he said.
Whetstone pointed out the PACC group has also committed to looking after the park with the municipality providing a minimal amount of funding or providing some services like cutting the grass. Whetstone says council will look over the proposal and come back with a response at a future council meeting.
