It’s safe to say our community is passionate about pet ownership and dog controls on the Mornington Peninsula. At the end of last year, we heard from more than 770 people about their concerns and priorities for our draft Dogs in Public Places Policy.
Thanks to our community’s feedback, we were able to shape our Dogs in Public Places Policy to best meet the needs of both locals who own dogs and those who don’t.
After extensive community engagement, at its Council Meeting on 16 May 2023, Mornington Peninsula Shire Council adopted the Dogs in Public Places Policy.
The Policy provides a consistent approach to how we assess suitability of areas where dogs can be leash free (with their owners present and under effective control) and where they can’t go (dog prohibited areas).
The changes in the updated Policy will be implemented in September. We’ll be working hard between now and the end of August to simplify regulations and make them easy to understand – this includes creating:
- Council Orders for sites that are impacted by the Policy
- new off leash dog signage
- an online interactive map.
To view the adopted Policy visit
Quote attributable to Mayor Councillor Steve Holland:
“Thank you to the hundreds of residents who provided feedback to help us understand what’s important to you – your input has helped shape our Dogs Policy.
“We’ll be keeping the community informed on our progress in improving our dog controls and signage – we hope the improvements will benefit both dog owners and everyone else.”
