Riverside Gardens is located along the Swan River foreshore in Bayswater and runs from Garrett Road Bridge through to Wyatt Road . Much of the parkland is on the site of the old Bayswater Tip (closed in 1981), however is now one of the last non commercialized river frontage areas in the metropolitan area. Whilst it falls under the jurisdiction of the City of Bayswater , the final decisions to any future development are made by the Swan River Trust.
	Local legend has it that one of the main reasons for the beautification of Riverside Gardens West was to enable residents and non residents of  the City of Bayswater to take their dogs to an exercise park where they could run free, swim and generally enjoy themselves with their family and other dogs. The legend also includes the shipping in of the white sand to create a beach for the dogs to play on.
	Barbeques and playgrounds have been installed to encourage family participation.
	Riverside Gardens East includes the Eric Singleton Bird Sanctuary area and access is gained to the boat ramp by travelling along Memorial Drive . This is an "on lead" dog exercise area.
	To date the area has retained the look and feel of open parkland.

	In 2008 it came to the notice of a number of patrons of Riverside Gardens that the Bayswater Council were considering rezoning the park with an aim to reducing the “off leash” dog exercise area.
	The council had installed a new children's playground in the “off leash” area and was now seeking to rezone this area to “on leash”. Many of the stalwart dog walkers saw this as the thin end of the wedge and that in time the whole area would be rezoned to “on leash”.
	A petition signed by over 800 people was presented to council at the meeting where the rezoning was to be discussed and the outcome of this action was the council deferred any decisions on the “dog issue” at Riverside Gardens until such time as a survey could be conducted to ascertain the feelings of the park patrons and local residents to the proposed changes.

	A number of Riverside Gardens patrons felt that the future of Riverside Gardens may be best served by setting up a web site and also running an independent survey where everyone who uses the park (all of whom by extension are Friends Of Riverside Gardens ) has the chance to say what they would like to see happening.
	Friends Of Riverside Gardens are not only interested in the dog exercise issue but also of the park overall. Aware that the council had in mind future development of Riverside Gardens there are questions in the survey relating to these aspects as well.
	It is hoped that the results of this survey not only reflect the true views of the park patrons but that it can also be a useful tool for the council at a later date in their decision making on the future of the park.
	Riverside Gardens is as previously stated practically unique in the metropolitan area and the general opinion of its patrons*  is that all the different reasons for visiting the park (exercise, family outings, the playground, dog walking etc.) are accommodated, everyone appears to get along together with little or no aggravation from any specific group (except the vandals who regularly break into vehicles), the control of the dogs is to a great extent self policed, as the vast majority of the dog owners know each other and are aware of each others animals and their foibles. Unruly and aggressive dogs receive the “cold shoulder” from the other dogs and their owners making it fairly clear they are not wanted, without the need for writs, summonses and bans.

*completed survey results to date