Category Archives: News

Northern Beaches Council Resolves to Prepare & Submit a Development Application to Authorise the off-leash dog Trial

At the Northern Beaches Council meeting on 23 June 2020, Council resolved to prepare, lodge and progress a development application to authorise the off-leash trial at Station Beach, without admissions or prejudice in relation to proceedings in the Land and Environment Court of NSW commenced by the Palm Beach Protection...

The importance of seagrass

Seagrasses are an important foundation species in shallow marine ecosystems and provide critical ecosystem services, including stabilizing sediments, sequestering carbon and provide habitat and an energy source for a diverse fauna. We know that recovery after disturbance to a seagrass meadow takes a long time (decades), if at all. Marine...

NSW Authorities preference is for alternative dog sites to Station Beach

NSW government agencies have publicly reported that they prefer alternative locations to Station Beach. This includes the NSW Department of Primary Industries (Fisheries), which provided its comments on the Review of Environmental Factors on 14 August 2019, stating it “has a strong preference for the use of ocean beaches for...

We must take seriously any threats to the marine environment

The recommendations in Appendix C, p.27 of the Review of Environment Factors 2019, commissioned by Council for the proposed off-leash area trial, notes that: a) Given the widespread damage to the seagrass bed from other human disturbances off Station Beach, any further damage from disturbances by dog swimming should be...

Council’s measures to protect the seagrass meadows will be impossible to enforce

Since 1 January 2020, we have observed at Station Beach poor compliance and ongoing breaches by a large number of dog walkers. We observe regularly that most dogs are unleashed when entering the beach. We note that compliance with the permitted times of day is too often ignored. This is...

Northern Beaches local government area tops dog attack statistics again

The NSW Office of Local Government has recently released the statistics for the number of dog attack incidents reported by NSW councils from 1 January 2020 to 31 March 2020, showing that the Northern Beaches area has the second highest number of dog attacks, with 58 official reported incidents. Although, the numbers...

Additional Stresses from Dog Activity… did you know?

The Station Beach seagrass meadow is already experiencing stress from human pollution of the Pittwater embayment and the invasive alga Caulerpa taxifolia. Dogs trampling of the seagrass will likely add to these existing stresses and extend the threats from the Caulerpa taxifolia....

Increased Sedimentation to Water Quality… did you know?

Seagrass helps bind soft sediment leading to higher water clarity. Damaged seagrass from a rise in dog activity may lead to increased sedimentation, and, if persistent, will lead to reduced light levels, resulting in reduced growth over the long term.  Note: Image above highlights the loss of seagrass structure following...

Seagrass Erosion… did you know?

Physical damage to the seagrasses could be caused by tearing seagrass structures by dog activity. An erosion patch may occur if sufficient damage is localised in one area. Most significant is the potential negative effect of dog activity and faeces on seagrass meadows at low tide. ...

Seagrass meadows are home to endangered seahorses

The seagrass meadows of Posidonia australis (and Zostera) found at Station Beach provides habitat for endangered species. Within the Pittwater Estuary, this includes Hippocampus whitei (White’s seahorse). The White’s seahorse is currently only known to occur in eight estuaries on the NSW Coast, including within the Pittwater estuary, and in...