For years the Glenorchy City Council has banned dogs from being on the ex-GASP boardwalks at Montrose Bay. Unfortunately, there have been regular complaints about people ignoring the rule. The image attached to this post is based on a half-page article in the Mercury of June 27, 2021 (page 11).

it may seem odd that dogs are banned from the boardwalks while being permitted on leash elsewhere on tracks in the area.

Here is the explanation provided by Council back in 2019 after an email from me.

“Prior to opening of the GASP boardwalk, Council’s Animal Management and Council’s GASP director conducted an assessment into the suitability of dogs being allowed on the boardwalk.

Considerations in determining the suitability of dogs entering onto the boardwalk were given to:

• the safety of animals and people when in a confined space (such as the boardwalk),
• the aesthetics and quality of experience for all users, including wheelchair users and people with certain disabilities,
• the known unpredictability of some dogs when confronted by certain fears or anxieties in confined places, such as the boardwalk where they are unable to escape,
• unsociable or aggressive behaviours of some dogs towards people and other dogs,
• certain users who may have a fear for dogs and are unable to safely leave the boardwalk if required, i.e. the boardwalk is largely situated over the river waters of Montrose Bay.

As a result of the above concerns associated with dogs accessing the GASP boardwalk, Council determined that allowing dogs to enter the boardwalk will pose a higher safety risk to people and some dogs generally, and it was therefore in the broader communities interests not to permit dog access onto the boardwalk.”

It seems to me that the rule is there basically because the boardwalk is something you can’t get off if you have a problem with dogs. If you’re walking along a normal path then you can step off to avoid them; you can’t do that on a boardwalk. You are trapped.

I hope that makes the situation clearer.

By the way, if you’ve got email, you send any other questions about the rules for animals to the address “animals@gcc.tas.gov.au”.