Enclosed and secure dog park spanning three acres opens in Oswestry

Oswestry Pooch Park, in Middleton Road, opened to the public on Monday (February 10) and has received a warm welcome from locals. 

Spanning three-and-a-half acres and featuring six-foot high secure fences and parking, the park, which is available for hire only, has been designed to bring utmost ease of mind for owners and their pets. 

Owner Gordon Tomley, who is a farmer by trade, explained: “Maybe you've got a dog that's a bit sort of reactive with other dogs, or got a poor recall, you can take it into that field. 

“You'll be the only one in there with your dogs so you don’t have to worry about other dogs, other people or livestock. That was the main thinking behind it.” 

It has been in the making for the last twelve months with building work beginning in September 2024. 

Gordon said: “We took about a month to build and then we decided that we wanted to put up a shelter there. So then we had to put in another planning application to get shelter, which we only got at the end of January. 

“The [Shropshire] Council has been quite enthusiastic about it. I think they see it as a facility for the dog walkers in surrounding areas so I think they were quite keen.” 

Since its launch earlier this week, Gordon said he has seen huge demand for the park, which is currently booked out until early next week. 

Gordon said: “It's nice to see some money coming back in instead of going out. 

“I thought it was just a case of putting a fence around the field and it was as simple as that, but it's been far more costly. 

“There's a lot more other things to consider; it's not quite as simple as I first imagined it would be. 

“And from what I've seen in the comments [on social media] so far, people seem to like it. 

“We are just going to see how we get on in the next six months or so and see where our customer base is. 

“We're very much new to this. It's a learning experience and learning curve for us. 

“We would like to think that people will interact and let us know if there's any problems and we'll see if we can sort them out and improve things as we go along.” 

Find out more information about Oswestry Pooch Park via the official website and social media channels.