Northern Illawarra needs more dog parks

Wollongong City Council is currently reviewing its Dogs on Beaches and Parks Policy. This presents a pivotal opportunity for Northern Illawarra residents to call for more dedicated dog parks, which will also help to alleviate pressure on our local environment and protect native wildlife. 

Let me begin by setting the record straight: I love dogs. I need to say this up front, for having only recently found myself wading in on the issue, it’s clear that dog parks make for divisive discourse.

It’s easy to see why. Rates of dog ownership in the Illawarra have doubled in the years since 2010. At last count, Wollongong City Council estimates that there are 40 dogs for every 100 people in the region, or more than 86,000 dogs in total. 

Wollongong now ranks as Australia’s ninth most pet-friendly region according to data from Muval, which grades locations based on their infrastructure, affordability, legislation and policy, and health and safety. Nowra-Bombaderry took out the top spot and Bowral-Mittagong ranked third. 

Despite ranking highly for pet health and safety in the study (Wollongong boasts 31.4 vets and 51.6 vet nurses per 100,000), our infrastructure has not kept pace with our growing canine population: Wollongong is home to just 4.7 dog parks per 100,000. By contrast, there are 15 dog parks per 100,000 in Nowra-Bombaderry and 13.7 per 100,000 in our sister city of Newcastle. Woof. 

On the need for more dog parks 

There are currently six off-leash dog parks in the City of Wollongong. Only one of these is in the Northern Illawarra: Proud Park in Helensburgh. 

For the average Bulli, Thirroul or Austinmer resident, the closest dog park is Figtree Oval. That’s a 13km drive, at best, to be able to exercise your four-legged friend in an off-leash green space. 

Sure, developing more off-leash dog parks in the Northern Illawarra is not without its challenges – the escarpment, for one, places a rather severe limitation on the availability of green space options. But it’s not an impossible ask. 

As part of Wollongong City Council’s policy review, residents are being invited to suggest future off-leash dog park sites. I note that, as of writing, there have been 30 submissions in total, with only one of these falling north of the top of Memorial Drive (the park in front of Bulli Showground). 

On the importance of dog parks 

Dog-friendly green spaces play an important role in building community, improving canine (and human) wellbeing, and alleviating pressure from other, more fragile, natural ecosystems. 

For our dogs, off-leash spaces allow for unstructured stimulation that promotes both exercise and socialisation with other dogs, leading to healthy exhaustion. It’s the furry equivalent of attending a really intense networking event, and then going home absolutely knackered. 

For our native wildlife and ecosystems, dog parks help to alleviate pressure on more fragile environments. Earlier this year, Curtin University released new research showing that human-owned, pet dogs disturb and directly harm wildlife, particularly shorebirds, even when leashed.

“As well as predatory behaviour like chasing wildlife, dogs leave scents, urine and faeces, which can disrupt animal behaviour long after the dogs have left,” said lead researcher Associate Professor Bill Bateman, from Curtin’s School of Molecular and Life Sciences.

“Others may feel their individual actions won’t make a difference, leading to a ‘tragedy of the commons’ where shared spaces like beaches and woodlands suffer cumulative degradation,” he added. 

This was, in fact, the basis for one of the recent recommendations that would have had Wollongong City Council shrink the off-leash area at McCauleys Beach to preserve the increasingly exposed rock platform and surrounding areas at its southern end. 

While council’s findings are that dogs are exacerbating – not causing – this fragility, a vocal number of locals would have you believe that council is (forgive the pun) “barking up the wrong tree”. 

On the impact of dogs on beaches 

This is where we reach the crux of our dogged debate. 

In the region north of Puckey’s Estate, dogs are currently allowed on 16 of the 20 beaches at least some of the time. This is in sharp contrast to our neighbouring regions of Shellharbour (dogs are not allowed on any beaches in the LGA) and the Sutherland Shire (where four beaches permit dogs in certain areas, some of the time), not to mention the Southern Illawarra – where just four beaches offer dog-friendly access. 

Our “open beaches for dogs” policy is, at best, giving our local council an excuse to not have to consider the creation of much-needed, fit-for-purpose dog parks to the north of the city and, at worst, opening the floodgates to an influx of non-local canine beachgoers, dog walkers and other dog-forward interlopers who have little to no investment in the long-term health and wellbeing of our region and its beaches. 

On the need to have your say now

At this junction please allow me to restate for the record: I love dogs. And I am not saying all dogs are the problem. Indeed, as with so many things in our society, it is the carelessness of a minority that often unfairly disadvantages the majority. 

But it would be remiss of me not to point out that a “tragedy of the commons” is, I fear, what awaits many of our beautiful northern suburbs beaches if we don’t take at least some remedial action while the opportunity is upon us. 

The bottom line is this: regardless of your stance on dogs on beaches, or whether or not you have a dog, or whether or not you would use a dog park, there are no net downsides in lobbying our local council to provide the option for more dog-friendly green spaces and off-leash dog parks in our community. 

It may not be a perfect solution, but it’s a doggone sight closer to one. 

Have your say on the future of Wollongong City Council’s Dogs on Beaches and Parks Policy. Submissions are open until 10 December 2025. 

Meg Wright is a journalist and podcaster whose work appears regularly in the Financial Times. She has also written for Forbes, The Drum and Mamamia. Meg grew up in the Illawarra and recently returned after living in London. She spends her time swimming, doing yoga and drinking (too much) coffee.