The dog park at the King George V Park (KGV) will be upgraded, with the installation of agility equipment for dogs to exercise and play on.
The motion was put forward by councillor Carl Houghton at an extraordinary full town council meeting on Tuesday 28th March. He proposed that the upgrade which could include agility equipment, could be paid for out of funds currently reserved for the town’s play parks, of a cost of up to £20,000.
Some councillors supported the motion and the benefits this would bring to the town. However, the motion sparked debate among other councillors who had concerns about the best use of funds allocated for the park.
In his presentation cllr Carl Houghton said, “The dog park officially opened in September 2021 and as it stands, with no improvements. We’ve already committed to new fencing of the dog park, but made no further plans. In June 2022 a petition went out to improve our dog park, with over 100 signatures, with just some of these improvements being as simple as safer access and water stations.
“It’s a bit hard to, at the moment, call it a dog park when there’s nothing in there to play with the dogs. It’s not a park in any way. If we are committing to the dog park in Melksham let’s do it properly, to use some of the existing funds used to pay for play equipment in the parks. This isn’t limited to play equipment; we could include water stations and benches to create a family-friendly dog hub that everyone can use. It is a family-friendly asset.
“This will also deter people from walking their dog off the lead in King George V and give people the option for their dog to go off the lead in the dog park where there are facilities. By committing to a £20,000 spend we are not limited and can begin planning straight away. This year we said we were going to commit to existing projects and I truly believe that we can get this one done pretty quick.”
Cllr Tom Price said, “I would argue that this is the only real dog run that people can use and I think it would be beneficial to invest some money into making it a bit nicer for the dogs to use and make it a bit more pleasant for the owners of the animals. I completely support the motion to that extent.
“Consistently the biggest complaint I get is we haven’t finished the KGV. For me, £20,000 is a bit steep but I don’t know how much these things cost, so that’s just my thought on that.”
Objecting to the council using funds that are reserved for play parks, chair of the council’s parks working group, cllr Saffi Rabey said, “We are undergoing a pretty lengthy exercise at the moment to look at all 14 of the play parks in the town and assess the requirement for replacement equipment. For me, this is taking £20,000 of the budget when we have some play parks in seriously, seriously dire conditions. Whilst I am not saying it’s not a great idea to do, I don’t think at the moment it’s a priority.”
Cllr Gary Cooke agreed, saying, “99% of dog owners walk their dogs for their dog’s exercise and throw a ball for their dog’s exercise. No-one, unless they are the 1%, who want to give them extra dog agility. Our residents would not be expecting us to be providing this before children’s play equipment.
“We are in a cost-of-living crisis, everyone is struggling. For us to be spending £20,000 on a dog park is ludicrous.”
However, Melksham’s mayor cllr Simon Crundell said, “Using the play equipment money is not actually budgeted as ‘children’s play equipment money,’ it’s ‘play equipment’ money and this is play equipment in our parks.”
Advocating the benefits an improved dog park would have on the town and residents’ wellbeing, he said, “It’s embarrassing to call that place a dog park, it is a play park with all the equipment taken out and we just call that the place you can exercise your dog. If you have anything bigger than a small dog or a highly intelligent dog, you need to have mental stimulation for them as well, and this is a healthy way of exercising your dogs. This doesn’t benefit just dog owners. You build a bond between owner and dog and that helps improve that relationship and have better behaved dogs in the town, that is to everyone’s benefit. We don’t just spend money on the majority group. We need to have facilities in the town, for the town.”
A majority vote by councillors agreed to spend money on installing the new equipment for dogs and plans for the revamped dog park will begin.
