Greystones Needs A Dog Park

Okay, so this might be pushing it a little too far, but, being the owner of quite possibly the cutest, smarest and most dashing dog in all of Greystones (hello, Max!), the idea of our sweet little town having a dog park is something that I can wholeheartedly endorse.

Of course, I should be doing a lot more than merely sitting here cheering. I should get up off my big, fat endorsing arse and do something about it. Tomorrow. 

In the meantime, here’s the lovely Maria Sweeney from Vanity Fur – who, along with Bernie Stokes, is actually doing something about getting a dog park in Greystones – to explain just how we can go about it. Take it away, Maria…

We were invited to speak at the council meeting on Tuesday last where we presented our case to the Greystones councillors requesting that they support the motion for a dog park in Greystones, and bring it forward for approval by Wicklow County Council. Presenting on behalf of the campaign was Bernadette Stokes, Chairperson and Maria Sweeney, Secretary.

A brief summary of our presentation and why we want a dog park is below:

– A dog park is an enclosed fenced area with double access gate on circa 1.5 – 2 acres of land.

– The Campaign for a Greystones Dog Park has now been in operation for five years. We have been gathering signatures and support both online and offline and took part in last year’s St
Patrick’s Day Parade under the banner “Bark for Your Park”.

– Greystones has a huge population of dogs, many of which don’t benefit from vital off-lead exercise and socialisation with other dogs due to lack of a safe enclosed area. Many breeds of dog
– including Huskies, Greyhounds, Beagles, etc – have little or no recall ability so cannot be safely let off the lead in a non-enclosed space.

– A dog park would also provide socialisation for dog owners, building a better community spirit and also providing somewhere for older or disabled people to exercise their dogs.

– Dublin has 10 dog parks throughout the county across four boroughs while Co Wicklow currently has none. We believe Greystones would be an ideal spot for Co Wicklow to pioneer this
requirement and build on our town’s wonderful reputation and previous accolade of “The most liveable community in the world”, which we received back in 2008.

– A dog park would significantly help the dog-fouling issue we have in the town by providing a maintained environment for people to walk their dogs. Positive peer pressure and a desire to keep
our dog park clean for dogs and owners alike will encourage responsible pet ownership and the cleaning up of dog faeces. It will help to prevent dogs being left free to roam around the streets
with nobody picking up after them.

– We as a committee are willing to raise the funds needed to erect fencing, benches and a water tap which we estimate to be approx €10k.

This was received warmly by all councillors at the meeting. What we are looking for from the Council is a plot of land ideally close to parking facilities on which we can do this.

All six councillors agreed to sign the motion and have identified some possible land sites in the Greystones area which they will bring forward to Wicklow Co Council for approval.

If you have any questions on any of the above please don’t hesitate to contact me on maria.sweeney@gmail.com.

Kind Regards
Maria Sweeney

Well, whattaya know, all that good work by Maria and Bernie finally fell on listening ears…