NEWCASTLE'S western suburbs have officially welcomed the city's second fully-fenced dog park, offering four-legged friends even more space to safely enjoy.
Located at Maryland Drive Reserve, the facility features a dog bubbler, shelter with seating, sandstone garden beds and shady trees.
City of Newcastle lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes welcomed the opening of the area as a safe space for animal lovers to exercise their dogs.
"Novocastrians are dog lovers and have told us they want more spaces to safely exercise their canines and mix with other pets," she said.
"This new space at Maryland provides a premier facility for dog lovers in our western suburbs, which is sure to be popular with pet owners who already make the most of the unfenced off-leash area within this popular reserve."
With one of the highest rates of dog ownership in the state, Newcastle is home to more than 64,000 registered canines in need of a variety of safe spaces to exercise throughout the local government area.
A future second stage of the Maryland facility will feature an additional off-leash area to separate large and small dogs, additional seating and landscaping as well as a formalised car park with accessible parking.
The Maryland Dog Park project forms part of the Dogs in Open Space plan, which was adopted by City of Newcastle in 2019 to guide the provision, improvement and management of off-leash dog areas during the next 10 years.
