My opinion only.

IMHO this plan is better considered than the Joondalup fiasco approach.
The improvements to normal day to day users sounds great. should keep in context that the Kitesurfing component is a very small part of a much bigger pla; Residents will be weighing in on those other topics more heavily than what I our primary area of concern (e.g. should the SLSC stay where it is).

To be honest, there has been some significant pain with kitesurfers (mostly non-local, but we have our local heros challengers too) repeatedly kiting through swimmers and SLSC nippers in front of the surf clubl The "encourage" kitesurfers to move North (and South of Brighton appears ok too) seems to be a well considered sentence.

I did not [personally] see this as a very threatening proposal, but suspect WAKSA representation would be a good thing... if anything, the southern "border" should move north to the Brighton beach access strip as this stretch is only populated by beach goers in the ultra peak of summer.

Doesn't sound to bad. Anyway better the Ocean One Bar is closer then

Hey Corey, I guess it keeps them in a job and unfortunately its a sign of the times.

However, we can take part in the public consultation and forward all concerns and disagreements to the Stirling council. If one lives in the Stirling area they will take more notice, not ideal, but a fact.

I havent read the documents in entirety (yet) but have been following this for some time. There are certainly some items I dont agree with and will be making comment by the due date 13 September. One item, not concerned with kiting, Im against is the water park - in these times of water shortages/restrictions just doesnt seem appropriate. Another concern is "family/kids zone" in the brighton area - this may well conflict with kiting at scarbs as we know it now. One to keep an eye on.

Overall from what I have seen in the plans I am "generally" happy with the master plan. Scarbs certainly needs a facelift.

I believe the plan is for development over a 10yr period and if we consider how fast the original 2005 plan has been implemented it could be some time before we see the first dirt turned. I agree it would be prudent that WAKSA and Scarb Kiters get involved.

hi corey
if u sat on the beach any given summers day and see the stupid **** that some kiters do then u would see the need

personally i hate all this regulation crapola but the kiting community brings it on its self i hate to say

i'm a keen kiter but also take my kids to the beach for a body bash from time to time and some of the stuff has to be seen to be believed eg kiting thru the crowd at main city beach, floreat slc etc etc

plenty of peoples on the beach even when the winds hooting, always think that will be no one there but never ceases to amaze how many lie there sea breeze or no seabreeze

good idea!
maybe filled with crude oil, end up looking like your poor avitar

Yeh Kiting further south of Brighton isnt a bad call for summer allot less kites going through the swimming area etc...I have cringed on several occasions down there its just to easy for something to really go wrong and then we are all wankers. Otherwise they should move the flags further North to allow some room.

Most of these Beach users plan are heavily subject to pressure from special interest groups and kiters need to make their interests known through there WAKSA scarborough group.

Get funky's plan of restricting kiting in summer to South of Brighton and north of manning ignores the fact that the best waves are mainly to the north of Brighton and the proposed restrictionsa would apply to some of the best areas, depending on the banks but generally very true late in the season. Trigg is OK but gets a lot of surfers and downwind current, and tends to close out on biggers days. Contacios can be pretty good but access is harder which is why it attracts few swimmers and surfers. Certainly in the past few summers i have been avoiding Brighton at the weekends and using that long empty stretch between Triggs and Contacios.

The Windsurfers twigged Brightons waves years ago, hence why they have 'cornered the market' for the area with the biggest waves in front of the surf club, and sadly continue to try and protect their long established monopoly of this area through intimidation and threats of, and sometimes actual, violence, both verbal and physical.

It would be in the best interests of both groups too co-ordinate their efforts in terms of continuing beach access especially as the windsurfers zone is in greater conflict with the activities of the surf club [training most summer evenings] which you can be sure will be the most vocal and organised group to represent themselves to Stirling council. The swimmers that interact with Kiters at Brighton are not there because of the nice peak with lefts and rights, something that would vbe completely lost on them, but because of the easy access, parking, showers and other facilities. It would indeed be a case of 'The Dog in The Manger' were they granted exclusive access to this zone in the summer.

What would be very useful would be an explicit sign advising swimmers that they are not always visible to Kiters / surfers / windsurfres / surf-skiiers especially when diving under waves [funny that] and it pays for both parties to be wary. Similarly plonking your towel down and stripping off for a tanning session in the midst of a bunch of guys pumping up and rigging your kites is not a good idea [unless your a hot chick of course when it seems that none except the girl kiters complain!- funny that too]

Get funky, I did not misunderstand but my post was not clear so i have edited it up quite a bit. I do not diagree with most of what you say but I am very loathe to agrre with a ban on kites across a broad area of the beach.

I think we should try and preserve access at Brighton. As Corey says conflicts arise mainly arise on hot weekend summer days when the winds are sub 20kts. On the best days the kiters and the windsufers are just about the only people on the beach. A blanket ban would see kiters banned from empty beaches .

As a lifelong windsurfer i can definitely say that we have not, as you have suggested, 'coralled them' in front of the surfclub. As windsurfers we stuck in that spot since long before kites were invented and the reason is the quality of the wave. It may not be world class but along that stretch there are subtle but important differences in wave quality. Windsurfers definitely deserve both respect and space but in situations when I am just trying to get back out having ended my run where they start theirs, and I am attempting to avoid them, but then have got some idiot trying deliberately to run me down, I think that is unacceptable. It is unfortunate that the 'kite zone' is upwind of the 'windsurf zone' as tend to go alot further downwind on our rides. We all need to learn to 'Live and let live'.

I agree completely with what you say too,that as beach users we do occupy a hell of alot of space and here is list of our most socially objectionable behaviours and i'm not saying I am not the guilty party in some of these, some are pretty much unavoidable:

- launching and landing upwind on beach users
- walking upwind when the wind drops with kite and lines across the general beach users
- leashless strapless boards coming off all the time and popping around freely and clobbering swimmers in the white water
- kites going down in the surf and causing panic across broad swathes of the beach
- downwinder riders cutting straight through windsurfers + surf lifesaving contests + flagged areas
- people walking up beach access paths with inflated kites or worse still hooked in

If i was a non kiter I'd definitely dislike kites. We accept danger to ourselves in our sport as a part of the deal, but is important not to expose the non participating public to it.

As kite numbers increase this issue is going to get worse. It is time for kiters to agree on and observe higher standards of behaviour or have them imposed.

The way some people are talking, Im sure they would be surprised to hear that many tourists come to watch the kites at Scarborough.

Im sure the council is aware of the money travelling kiters bring to the area. You all see the Euros here over summer. They come from the other side of the world to kite / holiday here.

The council would be much better off promoting the area more, than bringing in bans. If there was an area marked for kiting like south of the Brighton path, may be that would stop all the swimmers using that area and stop the conflict.

Doubt it as it is the swimmers who feel they should have free rein over the area. As we need to show common sense in not running people over, swimmers should be encouraged to show some too and not swim where they see a heap of kiters.

How about a no swimming rule south of Brighton and another one north of Contacios, that will fix the problem.

How about the beach police come down and make sure people only swim between the flags, that will fix it too.

No matter how many rules and bans are in place, there will always be people that break them.

You keep on talking like everyone who kites goes through the swimming flags everytime they kite. It isnt like that at all. I would like to think most people do the right thing already. Everyone I kite with gives the crowded spots a wide berth.

Carl is on the money, but hey the people in Council need new challenges. Dealing with flith and low life is too hard for them, so on they go with making up nice work to do.............typical, and it is a global trend...........lawyers and politicians looking for easy pickings.

To me it is easy........as a local kiter, get involved personally by always setting a good example; one way is to pick up garbage. How hard is this really? You go to your local, hang out, pump up, wait for wind etc.....there is plenty of idle time to do something good, have a smile, launch a kite or just pick up some garbage...........if each one of us locals who cared, behaved like this (and many do), then beach access can become our oyster. We locals define the kiting culture in Perth!

Garbology can even be fun.

get.google.com/albumarchive/pwa/100158763202094001468/WoodiesBay1

picasaweb.google.ch/100158763202094001468/WoodiesBay2#

There are dozens of spots from Leighton - Scarbs that are equal for waves. I guess the only diff is the scarbs spot is a tad further out than most?

I have had dealings with the council, over the years as a resident, and they have varied from good to WTF are they thinking.

Agreed on the state of Scarbs 'clean-up' but I don't see the point in coming out swinging and putting the council offside.



Fact is the council seem to be looking at the areas, that have in truth, have been overdue to be looked at for all users and purposes. They don't seem to be focused (at this stage) on the lesser crowded areas (of which there are plenty) so it's not a tragedy.

As long as there is a decent process (and Mullallo would prob be the template for both 'sides' of the equation here) then it doesn't have to be a 'sky is falling' reaction.



Face facts fellas, we have had pretty much free range in this area for a long time and with numbers of kiters increasing annually it has to be examined and a plan (not neccesatrily bans) put into place.

Or continue to allow a 'she'll be right' sort plan and face the eventual 'she wasn't right and now we have a serious case of sh!t hitting the fan with resulting bans'.





Oh - as far as kite/tourist dollars seducing the council. I doubt that. Not a great line of argument to go to coucil with IMHO.

I would also suggest the by far the majority of tourists that use Scarborough beach etc are non kiters who may be put off the holiday destination by the presence of kites in large numbers.

Note that other tourist attracting beaches Mullalloo and Cott already have kite exclusions. Scarbs would get more non kiter touros than Mullaz and probably on a par with Cott.

Also, half of the kiter touros live in vans and wash their plates etc in the showers (that has been happening a lot over the last couple of seasons). Me thinks that is not a big drawcard for the council.

Hello all!

Just picked this up and have been in email contact with Juddy (WAKSA president) and Ian.

We have a crew of about 65 people and the lobbying power needed already.

What we don't have is the email addresses of about 35 of those above (just Seabreeze id) so please send us your email now to our address provided by PM (to avoid Spam).

And of course, there are the other kiters who may not have joined yet - please PM us now with your email addy.

I've already made contact with the Scarb SLSC guys (friendly, invited us down for social drinks but offer not taken up yet). No reply from Council contacts at Stirling and Cambridge. Juddy is now accessing high level Councillors anyway. I'll drop the other SLSC's another line but we need help in organising / action....please.

Will work closely with WAKSA and update you all.

Shan.

It is ridiculous that people kite in summer at brighton, just meters upwind from the flags where crowds of kids are swimming and playing in the surf. If you watch, you'll see that frequently someone will crash their kite, or lose their board, and drift downwind and through the swimmers. It makes perfect sense to have kiters downwind (North) of the swimming area, then they drift away when things go wrong, and not into the crowd. I don't think bans should be imposed, but maybe signs requesting people not to kite upwind of in the flagged swimming areas would be sensible.

And to say "ban people from swimming in certain areas" get real, this is australia, its the beach, you can't ban people from swimming in the sea! I find it amusing that surfing was banned in Australia not so long ago!