Kingborough Council has deferred a plan to relocate the Southern Obedience Club to a reserve at Bonnet Hill after residents objected to the proposal and the consultation behind it.
Councillors voted at their June 1 meeting to defer the dog management policy amendment needed to declare a new dog training area at Lot 1 Taronga Road, known locally as the Sedgebrook Road Reserve.
The amendment is required under the Dog Control Act before the site can be used by the club.
The club must leave its long-held site at Gormley Drive in Kingston to make way for the Tasmania Devils high-performance centre, which the council backed in December 2024.
The council has spent about two years searching for a new home within a state government funding allocation of about $100,000.
A site at Dru Point was abandoned after land acquisition costs exceeded the budget.
Options at Lower Longley, Huntingfield and Christopher Johnson Memorial Park were also ruled out.
Bonnet Hill emerged as the preferred site because it is council-owned and could fit the club within budget.
Opposition was set out before the meeting in formal questions, which residents raised concerns about endangered wildlife, the lack of an environmental impact statement, traffic, parking conflicts and a rushed timeline.
The club nominated the site on May 19, residents received a notice on May 20 and the matter reached council on June 1.
A council staff member told councillors the council was not legally obliged to run the formal process first and could undertake additional consultation.
Under the proposal the club would have exclusive use of the reserve on Sundays between about 10:30am and 4pm, with the site open to the public on the other six days.
Separately, councillors sitting as a planning authority approved a public dog exercise area at 34 Maddocks Road in Kingston on TasNetworks land near an electrical substation.
The fenced park, with sections for small dogs, large dogs and greyhounds, drew 14 objections but was approved unanimously.
