New doggy bag dispenser at Ron Barassi Oval

In some good news for Docklands dog owners, the City of Melbourne installed a doggy bag dispenser at Ron Barassi Oval last month.  

The move came in response to overwhelming requests from residents in the area.

Speaking on September 8, Lord Mayor Sally Capp said she was “excited” to be opening the new feature as it was a direct response to a request from a local. 

“When I was out walking, one of our local residents who is a dog lover, said to me that they absolutely love Ron Barassi Park but there’s no doggy bag dispenser here and that’s something that they would love,” the Lord Mayor said. 

“During times like this it’s really important that we focus on getting things done that really matter to our community so this is a good example of where council can deliver on stuff that’s important to locals.”

The Lord Mayor encouraged residents to “keep telling us the things that you want” so that the council can act on them. 

“Last month in terms of our overall capital works for community projects, about a third of them came as requests from residents, whether they were things that needed to be fixed, or things that needed to be done better, or completely new ideas like this one,” she said.

“I think it’s some of the most important work we do.” 

As Ron Barrassi is an on-leash dog park, the Lord Mayor said the council would soon be consulting the community to see where residents would like more off-leash areas. 

“We’ve got about 38 acres of off-leash dog parks and 5000 dogs registered in the City of Melbourne but we’re about to do consultation to ask people where they would like to have more,” the Lord Mayor said. 

“Residents in Docklands and right across the municipality will be able to jump on Participate Melbourne and nominate if they want more off-leash space.”

“It’s our fastest growing year for pet registration so making sure we get the spaces right is very important.” •

For more information: participate.melbourne.vic.gov.au