YDRA 2026 AGM- Report by the Dog Park Sub-Committee

 

This is the third year we have reported to a YDRA AGM. This time, we have amazing progress to report. When we closed the 2025 AGM, the subcommittee was still waiting on a decision from Council as to whether or not the project could proceed at all, let alone where it might be! Many discussions and deputations later, we finally signed an agreement with the Council on 9th December 2025.

Not letting any grass grow under our feet, we had organised a container and safety fence ready to secure the site and store our building materials. But we had not finished the paperwork, and everyone knows “ the job is not done until the paperwork is finished!”

We had to create a Site Safety Management Plan that the Council could approve. That took until 22 January, and we are grateful to member Craig Markey for his assistance to navigate this labyrinth. One last hiccup – a First Aider on site while work is happening. So, my dear husband Les did the course and got his First Aid certificate.

An amazing group of volunteers came forth and continued to do so right up until today. They have achieved so much. Those volunteers have built every piece of infrastructure on the site. We engaged contractors to connect the water line that the volunteers installed to the supply, to prepare the surface for the ramp construction, and to pour the ramp. Everything else constructed or installed on the site was done by volunteers.

Work remaining is:

• Install shelter roof
• Paint -2 coats – shelter frame
• Finish dividing the fence between the big and small parks
• Drill, chemical anchor, and install pole feet for ramp uprights
• Install metal uprights for ramp handrail
• Install ramp handrails
• Agree and order signage
• Planting, landscaping

As of today, we are still waiting to receive the grant funds.
We are aiming for a handover to Council by 30 June 2026.