Update on the Dog Run

The WMA just posted this information on their website:

Sunday May 31st, 2015.

Mayor Peter Trent contacted the WMA co-president Dr. Maureen Kiely. He told her that he halted activity on the proposed dog run in Westmount Park. Apparently he is ordering a “redesign” and he specifically asked her to pass on this message to you.

Even though the dog run is not specifically on the agenda for the June 1st Council meeting, we still encourage all members to make their opinions heard.

WMA Westmount Park Issues

It will be interesting to see what is announced at tomorrow's council meeting. Remember to attend and make your opinion heard!

Replacement Dog Run For Lansdowne - Not What Was Promised

Back in October, to great fanfare, Mayor Trent announced a new location for the dog run that had been at the corner of Lansdowne and Ste Catherine for decades - Westmount Independent Oct 14 2014. Finally, after two years of a promise to restore the Lansdowne site, which had been "temporarily" removed during the construction of the WRC, it looked like a solution was found - despite the fact that an overwhelming majority (89.1%) of those polled by the WMA saying they wanted it back in its original location - see WMA Dog Poll Results.

It is worth noting that, at no point during this process, were there any public consultations, despite promises to the contrary by Council in the summer of 2014 - see page 47 October 6th Council Agenda.

Fast forward to May 2015 and construction is about to start. However, the location is not quite that promised in October 2014, but now more north into the Park and not at all on the roof of the WRC (see page 1 and 20 of this week's Independent). Due to this relocation, a larger deviation is required to the bikepath and this will result in the necessity to destroy several mature trees in its path. This will also create some steep curves in the bikepath and create conflict zones where dog owners will have to cross to access the new run.

There are other issues in this area - the access to the Westmount Park United Church has an inadequate turn-around - which is going to force the handicapped parking zone to be relocated to the west side of Lansdowne.

It's time to rethink this whole proposal before it's too late. The vast majority want the dog run back at its original location, where it happily served dog owners in the area for over 25 years.

Please come to City Council, Monday June 1st at 8pm and make your voice heard.