Every man and his dog (apologies, we had to) high-tailed it to the southern end of Mona Vale Beach this morning, 14 October 2025, to let their furry friend run free and enjoy access to an ocean beach for the first time in modern history on the Northern Beaches.
The 12-month trial will grant dogs access to an ocean beach over a small stretch during restricted hours.
“Wonderful. He loves it,” one woman told Manly Observer referring to her beagle, Toby’s reaction to being on the beach, “We’ve been traveling sometimes up the coast for two hours so he could go on a dog friendly beach, because I don’t think there’s one between Palm Beach and Manly.”
Another Mona Vale local couldn’t get down to the beach fast enough to participate in the trial this morning after previously signing a petition to allow dogs on the beach.
“I just think they’re such a big part of our community and to have the beach down here when all the dogs are up there [the park headland] like it was just too hard. So it’s really nice that it’s been embraced,” she said.
A woman from Manly decided to make the drive up the beaches to show her support with the help of her pups.
“This is amazing. We’ve waited so long for it, and we’re really grateful to the council for giving us permission. And we hope it’s a success. We hope everybody applies with the rules. And we’re just ecstatic. I live in Manly so I usually used to go down to Clontarf, but there’s a lot of restrictions there now. But we drove up this morning just to support it,” she shared.
The trial will be active for a year between 5:30 am to 10 am and 5 pm to 9 pm every day and is only on the south side of Mona Vale beach, which is marked by signs, outside of these conditions dogs will remain prohibited as they still are on every other beach.
To begin with, rangers will be present to educate the public on proper etiquette; this includes only entering the beach with a dog in designated areas and times and picking up and properly disposing of their droppings. However, ranger presence will eventually decrease to normal monitoring times – once a week – in order to provide fair comparisons with other areas.
The vote allowing the trial to go ahead came from Northern Beaches Council in August with all but four councillors agreeing to pass the motion. The three Greens’ against cited they were elected on an environmental mandate and believe environmental research was not thorough enough to warrant a vote.
An environmental assessment has been undertaken for the trial and the outcomes are set out in the Review of Environmental Factors Mona Vale Beach (south) Off-leash Dog Trial 2025.
Deputy Mayor Candy Bingham was also strongly opposed to “permitting dogs on our pristine beaches,” comparing her experience at Byron Bay’s dog beach where the impact resulted in the smell of dog urine and “doggy bags” “strewn in the bushes.”
While Mayor Sue Heins stated it was an opportunity for the community to demonstrate how much they value and can share open spaces responsibly.
“This trial is about finding the right balance through clear guidelines, strong safeguards, and ongoing monitoring,” Mayor Sue Heins stated.
The trial required more than $50,000 spent on fencing to protect vegetation areas and dunes, as well as $7,000 in signage, dog waste bags and dispensers.
There are 30 off-leash dog areas in the local government area, only four of which have access to a body of water. Half of these are heavily polluted. None provide access to the ocean.
There has been large support and advocacy for more off-leash spots for locals and their pets, including petitions and a have your say page by Northern Beaches Council. Michele Robertson, of Pittwater Unleashed, says she has been fighting for ocean spots for dogs for 11 and a half years and feels euphoric the day has finally arrived.
“World War II lasted five years, its taken us 12 years to get this far,” Michele told us on south Mona beach this morning between excitingly chatting to locals and their dogs.
“It’s just so positive. And you form communities within communities, people with mental health issues who struggle to get out of bed each day… who are often feeling disenfranchised in our community, I’ve spoken to them, and they’ve just said it’s just such a good thing for them.”
Though the news is exciting to many, it has not been welcomed by all, as outlined in our previous article.
The decision is still in its trial phase and it’s up to the community to ensure they’re implementing best practices when taking their pups to the beach. Paul and Warren who have been fighting for their dogs Billy, Alice and Hank, to be able to run on the beach for years share this sentiment.
“Just look at the joy. Just look at we’ve had people down here since five o’clock in the morning. What we got to do now is we got to make sure we do the right thing. We got to make sure that everybody’s aware of what good behaviour is, what good practice is, by being a dog owner that’s picking up after your dog and just doing the right thing, so that this trial doesn’t just finish in 12 months, but it continues forever,” Warren said.
“I think people with dogs naturally always do the right thing in terms of picking up. It’s the last thing you want to do that. My worst fear is like, oh my god, did I? Did I miss something? You know? Yeah, you’re constantly vigilant because you want to protect this beautiful space. It’s gorgeous, yeah? So we take it very seriously,” Paul added.
If abiding by the rules during the trial to influence a decision in favour of permanent dogs on the beach isn’t enough motivation, the penalties associated with rule breaking might. Operating outside the trial rules holds the same penalties as allowing your pet to enter a prohibited beach or place under regular circumstances, which carries fines of up to $330.
In evaluating the trial Council said it will consider usage, compliance and check for maintenance of signage and fences. Information collected along with community feedback will be reported back to Council.
