Update on Hindmarsh Drive Reserve Dog Off-Leash Park

Hindmarsh Drive Reserve Dog Off Leash Park was planned to be delivered as part of the 2025/26 capital works program with $275,000 in grant funding from the State Government and a further $175,000 in capital contribution from Council.

The first phase of community engagement was conducted from 18 July to 17 August 2025, with a total of 110 submissions received. Of these submissions, 53% indicated that they did not support the proposed fenced dog off-leash area for the following reasons:

• Impact to local residential area amenity (proximity to houses, noise & smell from dogs)
• Increased traffic and car parking attributed to the dog park
• Loss of open space.

In response, Council revised the concept plan and proposed to address the key concerns by filling in a portion of the dry ornamental lake and moving the fenced area further north into the reserve.

A second round of consultation was undertaken on the revised proposal from 3 November to 1 December 2025. Consultation results indicate that 68% of residents did not support the development of the proposed dog park, with the key concerns remaining consistent with those raised in the first round.

As this site remains unfavourable to the Community, this project will therefore be cancelled and all unspent grant funds returned to DEECA.

Read the Engagement Report here to find out what the community told us or fill in our survey to tell us how we did.

See what’s changed in the updated draft concept plan and help us shape the final design

Thank you to everyone who shared their feedback in the first round of engagement!

We heard from more than 120 community members and received a wide range of views, with 47% supporting the proposed dog park.

We are now seeking a second round of community feedback on the new draft concept. This new design responds to the key issues raised by the community — including parking, noise, and location.

You can read more below about:

1. The new design - including the changes we’ve made.
2. Round One concept - what was originally planned for the area
3. What community told us during the first round of engagement

Feedback closes 11:59PM Monday 1 December 2025

What have we changed based on your feedback?

The Hindmarsh Drive Reserve Dog Off-Leash Park is part of Wyndham’s commitment to creating accessible, well-connected open spaces for families and their pets —guided by the Wyndham Dog Off-Leash Plan 2022 and Wyndham’s Open Space Strategy 2045.

This project is supported by the Victorian Government through the New and Upgraded Dog Parks Program.

Thank you to everyone who shared their thoughts during our earlier consultation. We received valuable feedback from the community, and we’ve made several updates to the draft concept in response.

Here’s a summary of what we heard and what we’ve changed:

A new dog park is planned for Manor Lakes!

As part of the ongoing implementation of the Wyndham Dog Off-Leash Plan (2022), we have been hard at work delivering new off-leash areas across Wyndham.

We've recently opened the new dog parks at Alcock Road Reserve, Truganina and Cambridge Reserve, Hoppers Crossing.

Hindmarsh Drive Reserve has been identified as most central to the Manor Lakes neighbourhood with the highest number of registered dogs, and no existing or nearby off-leash areas.

We've created a draft concept design for the proposed Hindmarsh Drive Reserve Dog Off-Leash area in Manor Lakes.

This area will include:

• 1.2m high fences
• Two double gate entries, dog bag dispensers and bins
• Seating
• A drink fountain
• Agility equipment
• New trees, landscaping and irrigated lawn areas.

The facility will also include regulatory signage as well as our ‘enclosed dog park etiquette guidelines’ sign which encourages positive and safe pet ownership.

This project is supported by the Victorian Government through the New and Upgraded Dog Parks Program.