THE TEA Gardens Lions are pushing to make the Hawks Nest dog park a reality, scraping together funding and sponsors for one of their most ambitious projects yet.
After failing to secure grants from multiple levels of government, the Fenced Off Leash Area (FOLA) is being developed through the willpower of the Tea Gardens Lions and their ongoing fundraising efforts.
So far, the Lions have raised more than half of the overall projected cost, but are still several thousand dollars short of the final vision.
Nonetheless, local contractors have initiated work at the site behind Providence Bay Park near Hawks Nest’s Bennetts Beach, with two concrete pads formed up just before the May rains hit.
“We’ve paid for the fencing and been advised they expect to start work next week,” Amanda Sykes, President of Tea Gardens Lions, told NOTA.
“We still need about $30,000 to finish the essentials.
“A couple more thousand will see the dog water fountains in, then it’s just the covered seating and path to the entry.”
The ideal design features spaces for various kinds of dogs, with concrete pads and seating for their human counterparts, where they can safely and securely let them off their leads to run freely inside the fenced area.
Lions volunteers have been working around excavations for the formwork, keeping the local vegetation at bay while the works are carried out.
“Once he has his poles in around the entrance slab, Dean Chester (DGC Contracting Structural Landscaping) will get the concreter (Corey Rhys) back to do at least that section with the other slabs to follow in the near future,” Amanda explained.
“In the meantime, Colin McCarthy (gardener) will put down some fertiliser.
“Once the fences are in, Dean will be back to dig and structure the sandpits and then Robert will install the agility equipment.
“Brett Hodder (Bridgeport Group) has been tasked with completing plumbing works and installing the water fountains and then we will be ready to open.”
Amanda said the Lions are still considering grant applications for the provision of seating.
“If we win the lottery on that front, we would look at some serious remediation of the ground and additional seating,” Amanda added.
“I’d like to think that anyone who has a dog and is likely to use the park, would contribute – it is, after all, for them.”
By Thomas O’KEEFE
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