In 2019 Sunshine Coast Council asked the Mapleton community to determine potential sites for a dog off-leash area. This consultation was undertaken in response to increasing requests by local residents to have a dog off-leash area in the Mapleton area.

Following the engagement process, council identified three potential sites for a dog off-leash area and developed concept designs for each location. In 2021 the community provided further feedback on the proposed concept designs.

Community engagement

A survey was broadly distributed and promoted to residents in the Mapleton area between 3 and 24 March, 2021.

Overall, 291 surveys were completed and 19 letters were received from residents and stakeholders. This provided a good overall number of responses to identify the favoured design.

Residents were asked to rate each location in order of preference from high to low and describe why this rating was selected. The survey feedback identified several design features that are of importance to Mapleton residents across all of the proposed dog off-leash sites.

The key results show that:

  • The Mapleton Lilyponds Park - Fenced area is the preferred option with 92 percent of residents rating this site in one of their top two preferences.
  • The Mapleton Fire Brigade Park - Fenced area was the second preferred option, with 73 percent of residents rating this in one of their top two preferences. However, a relatively large group of residents rated this as their least preferred site (27 percent of residents).
  • Residents generally rejected the Mapleton Lilyponds Park - Unfenced, off-leash area at specified times with 60 percent of residents rating this as their least preferred option.

Where to from here

Council has heard that, of the three options, the community prefers the Mapleton Lilyponds Park fenced dog off-leash area.

Council will use the community feedback to further refine the site and design concept. Next steps will include a final design and a proposal to include the construction in the forthcoming budget.

Contacts

For more information on the Mapleton Dog Off-leash Area project, please contact council’s Project Officer on 07 5475 7272 or email LandscapeDesignandPlanning@sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au.