Council
2 January, 2026
Concerns over safety at popular dog park
Concerns have been raised over the safety of people using the popular off-leash dog park in Moss Vale.
Concerns have been raised over the safety of people using the popular off-leash dog park in Moss Vale.
A tree near the park’s Lovelle Street entrance has lost a number of branches and major cracks have started to appear in others.
Wingecarribee Shire Council has established an exclusion zone around the tree using red mesh but the mesh has fallen down in places and the area underneath the tree can easily be accessed.
Park users say more needs to be done.
An independent arborist, who wishes to remain anonymous, says the tree presents “extreme danger in a public place”.
He says scarring on the trunk and branches appears varied in age and if this is the case further damage could easily be caused by high winds.
He also believes there are too many trees in the stand where the tree causing concern has been fenced off.
“The root systems of the five trees at the northern end of the stand will be intermingled and thus would not have grown to their full strength.
“This presents additional danger of whole trees being brought down in high winds.”
Council has posted a notice at the park advising that the tree needs to be retained “for the long-term health and stability of the entire stand”.
“The Westernmost tree bears the full force of south westerly winds and therefore has a higher chance of branch failure to its canopy,” the notice states.
“This tree also functions as a wind break to the other trees and is critical to the long-term viability of those trees located east of the tree whilst retaining all of them as an asset to the local community.”
However, one concerned local resident and dog park user doesn’t understand why council’s senior arborist refers to the tree as being ‘Westernmost’ in the stand of the trees or how it could protect the other trees.
“The line of trees actually runs basically North to South (left to right with back to Lovelle Street) and the tree in question is at the left-hand (Northernmost) end of the line,” he told The Southern Wire.
“So in fact it does nothing to protect other trees in the line from a southwesterly wind.”
According to the notice at the park, dated December 8, council will mulch the area around the tree “to reduce soil compaction and support the tree’s health”.
It says council’s tree management team will continue ongoing monitoring of all trees within Seymour Park and throughout the shire, “undertaking and necessary arboricultural maintenance as required”.
The independent arborist doesn’t believe mulching the area around the tree will “satisfactorily promote active growth” and believes the best course of action would be for council to remove two of the five trees in the stand.
Local residents say the park is extremely popular and attracts people from across the shire – and even from as far away as Sydney.
They say it is not uncommon to see as many as 20 cars parked at the Lovelle Street entrance.
They say it is a great facility and is well maintained by council but the tree in its current state presents an unacceptable risk.
“I don’t think anyone wants to see a tree cut down but it needs making safe,” one user told The Southern Wire this week.
Park users say they are frustrated that something hadn’t already been done to make the area safer.
There are a number of detached branches in the tree that they fear could come down, seriously injuring or potentially killing a dog or a young child.
The latest fall from the tree was in late November and was the second major fall from the tree in the last 12 months.
Read More: Moss Vale, Southern Highlands