From the open meeting held on the 26/02/14 at the Sandy Hotel a group of volunteers set out to reengage discussions with Parks Victoria about the recent zoning changes around bay.
Meeting minutes (brief)
1. Intro to meeting
2. Presented last 3 years of WV and PV discussions including lack of local support from mid 2010 to the shared wind zones
3. Open discussions about key affected PPB windsurfing locations and what options could be considered
4. Discussed building better relationships with our local LSV clubs
5. Asked for volunteers to help WV with PV etc.
6. A group of 6 volunteers would start open communications about our key concerned beaches (Elwood, Dendy St, Hampton, Rickets Point, Bonbeach and Frankston) with PV and other government bodies.

The first recent meeting between Windsurfing Victoria and Parks Victoria was held at the SBHQ Kiosk, on the 11/03/14. The minutes of this meeting, with action items can be found on the Windsurfing Victoria website.
http://www.wv.org.au/index.php/beach-zoning-minutes

Really good work guys, and detailed minutes.

Well done.

Yep, great works guys. The level of detail in the minutes is appreciated.

Great work guys. Thanks for the update.
As stated before, I'm happy to help if needed.

The first of the action items has been completed' with a letter from WV to PV about the reinstatement of Bonbeach.
One of our fellow sailors went for SUP tonight and noticed that the no vessel signs have now changed to no PWC.

Please refer to the revised zoning map below for north of Paterson River.

Hmm. Weren't the PWC's really the problem in the first place?

Hi guys. Just a point on the PWC. I have both Emailed and rung the three Bayside councillors covering Hampton Beach (speaking as both a local resident and also as a kitesurfer.....my knees were playing up with the sailboard sorry!). One councillor told me that the Swimmers Only areas would keep out PWC, which is what they really wanted to address. The councillor was not aware of the availability of shared areas or the real impact of swimmers only.

The latest news is (copy/paste from my post in the Seabreeze kite surf area):

Please keep up communication with both the three Central Ward councillors and also the Bayside officers. There is good news in that Council have passed a resolution on 26th March to:
* Write to Parks seeking a review of the areas and the definitions.
* Write to the Assoc of Bayside Municipalties and local MPs seeking their support.
I would post a copy of the PDF letter from Council here, but blowed if I can work out how to do it! I have sent a copy to SHQ and RPS.

The WV PV volunteer group has been working very hard on the second action item; the submission to PV about the concerned beaches that were raised in the meeting. These are Elwood (Opposite Dawsons Ave), Brighton (Opposite Norwood Ave/Kinane St), Hampton and Ricketts Point Beaumauris (South Side). The submission is planned to presented to PV later this week. Feedback from the presentation will be posted soon afterwards.

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WIndsurfVic said..

The WV PV volunteer group has been working very hard on the second action item; the submission to PV about the concerned beaches that were raised in the meeting. These are Elwood (Opposite Dawsons Ave), Brighton (Opposite Norwood Ave/Kinane St), Hampton and Ricketts Point Beaumauris (South Side). The submission is planned to presented to PV later this week. Feedback from the presentation will be posted soon afterwards.

The resently presented PV presentation and letter about Bonbeach has been posted on the WV website. www.wv.org.au
A big thanks to the sub committee. There will be continued consulting between WV and PV.

Very thorough submission guys. Really, thanks so much for what must've been a lot of time doing this.

I see the next step is to get in touch with the LSCs. If you're looking for Elwood LS contacts remember Kitz92 got rescued by their Treasurer, who I seem to recall said something along the lines, "we're not happy with the change either." Just mentioning it so this little piece of gold doesn't fall through the cracks.

Next time any of you see Feltch, buy the guy a beer, he has done a herculean effort putting together the written submission. Can't say enough about how well he represented our interests during the PV meetings.

Nice to see some written support for our efforts too, have lost count of the hours we have put in already. Fingers crossed it translates to a positive outcome for the affected spots.

Derek

Well done to all involved. Thoroughly appreciated by the entire windsurfing community.

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I have just recently become aware of the new water sports zones at Hampton Beach and their impact on Kite and Windsurfing, so I have written to Various Councillors at Bayside. Felicity Frederico called me back and encouraged me to send emails to State Government Ministers to help her gain momentum in her efforts with Parks Victoria to make changes.
It would be helpful to have as many others as possible do the same. I have put below my initial email and you can extract what you want or do your own. The contacts details are:
Felicity Frederico Bayside Councillor - ffrederico@bayside.vic.gov.au
Murray Thompson State Member Sandringham - murray.thompson@parliament.vic.gov.au
Louise Asher Local Member -
Minister for Environment - ryan.smith@parliament.vic.gov.au

I do not have a particular contact at parks Vic yet.... any suggestions?


<div>Felicity Frederico

<div>Councillor

<div>Bayside Council

<div>Royal Avenue

<div>Sandringham 3191

<div>Dear Ms Frederico

<div>Re: New Swimming and Water-sport Zones Hampton Beach

<div>As a long time resident of Hampton and a frequent user of our wonderful foreshore, I am alarmed at the recently imposed swimming and water-sport restrictions from Parks Victoria apparently under the guidance of Bayside Council.

<div>My particular interests are both swimming and kitesurfing. I have been a keen swimmer for many decades now and often participate and train at Hampton for the various open water Bay swims in our area and as well I have been an enthusiastic kite surfer these last 8 years or so mostly using Hampton beach as my local base.

<div>I am writing to you to present various points about this matter, to inquire as to the processes available to me to appeal the Parks Victoria and Bayside Council,s "new swimming zone Hampton beach" and to make what I believe to be entirely sensible changes to the proposed zoning restrictions.

<div>As you are presumably aware a "year round swimming only zone" has been indicated for the full length of Hampton beach from the Small Street groyne at the south end of the beach to approximately 50m south of the Orlando Street groyne at the north end of the beach.

<div>A "shared watersports area has been defined from 50m south of the Orlando Street groyne to the New Street groyne at the northern end of this smaller stretch of beach.

<div>There are a number of points ( I will keep them brief) why this arrangement is entirely inappropriate:

<div>The restrictions have been purportedly imposed for safety reasons, but the mixed water sports area will in fact be extremely usafe.

<div>The area proposed for shared water sports south of the Orlando Street groyne is useless for sailboarding and kitesurfing as it has very shallow reefs.. often exposed at low tide which are dangerous. Also typically kitesurfing and sailboarding activities occurs with the south to south westerly sea breeze therefore the cross wind direction utilised by both sports means that departing from the beach in this corner is impossible. The groyne blocks the riders path so accidents where a rider crashes into the rock groyne would be the likely outcome and it is also extremely dangerous to kitesurf or sail close to the lines of the fishermen on the groyne.

<div>The bay between the Orlando Street groyne and the New Street groyne is relatively short and currently if three or four kites are in there it is crowded. When the wind is up often there are 20 or so kites and sailboarders set up and taking off from Hampton beach.

<div>To force them into this short stretch of beach with the prominence and the angle of the northern groyne further restricting the path of riders as well as the fisherfolk and their lines, is inappropriate and dangerous.

<div>This stretch of the beach is not well served with vehicle parking and large areas of grass for rigging sailboard and kite surfing equipment.

<div>The distribution of beach proposed for swimming versus shared water sports is not equitable. The swimming beach proposed is vast compared with the small usable section of beach allocated for shared water sports. The northern end of Hampton beach is not ideal for swimming due to the inshore reefs. The southern section has the dual benefits of observation from the HLSC with minimal reefs, deeper and more protected water.

<div>The two activities, that is kite surfing/sailboarding and swimming are generally mutually exclusive. That is when a strong sea breeze (18 knots plus) arrives during the summer months or when strong westerlies or south westerlies blow throughout the year, very few people remain in the water or are swimming laps of the choppy and wave effected Hampton beach.

<div>The beach should be divided in half with the new restriction sign located at a point only 50m or so north of the Life Saving Club. This is how the beach has operated by default (or good judgement) for some 14 years or more now - since kitesurfing was invented. Also it is fairly obviously entirely unnecessary to have these restrictions apply year round.

<div>The northern half of Hampton Beach has become a very popular beach in the last decade or so for sailboarding and kite surfing because it has all of the elements required to make it a safe, functional and enjoyable venue for these sports. It is quite tragic and frustrating to have it removed from availability for inappropriate reasons through perhaps ill-advised and inadequate representation of all of the participants.

<div>Furthermore I am quite happy to see powered boating craft restricted but it seems quite unnecessary to restrict craft such as kayaks and stand up paddle boards from the whole length of Hampton Beach.

<div>I look forward to your response, and please advise of the most appropriate course available to me to present this view to the relevant parties in my endeavors to amend this inappropriate zoning configuration.

<div>yours faithfully

Hi Leon,
To bring you up to speed, WV organised a meeting with concerned water users a few months ago, and from that meeting it was decided to co ordinate a response to local council and State Government agencies via our State Organisation.

Please take a look at WV's website- www.wv.org.au...it outlines the actions and processes that WV are currently undertaking to ensure that windsurfing has representation in this matter...

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<div>There has not been much progress since the last update. PV have advised WV that September there is a review planned with Transport Safety Victoria and our proposal will form part of that review. There is not much we can do before then other than word up the other water users like Surf Lifesaving Clubs etc.

<div>

<div>We are looking for a representative for the Balnarring wind-sports (see map attached) and Bellarine areas to help the WV/PV volunteer group. These areas will be the next to be impacted and PV wants to get the windsurfers input before they draw up the maps this time. If you can help please pass on your contact details to president@wv.org.au

Hey Steve, looks like they are going to have to redo quite a few poles...Last I looked all the ones near Bonbeach were at 45 degrees pointing south from the big northerly storm we had a couple of weeks or so ago...

Leaning Pole of Bonbeach! Wow council must be pretty happy with the sub contractors who did this job!

Wonder of they will tilt a few more degrees after this weeks predicted big blows

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windaddict said...
Hey Steve, looks like they are going to have to redo quite a few poles...Last I looked all the ones near Bonbeach were at 45 degrees pointing south from the big northerly storm we had a couple of weeks or so ago...

Nice one. Hopefully the poles at Elwood have been pushed over as well. Makes it easier to get them moved if they're going to have to reset them anyway

The gods have spoken! Down with the poles!

Same thing happened to the new mark @ Parkdale

Hey Everyone!

Parks Victoria have asked for windsurfers to provide input on Balnarring and Bellarine Peninsula. It's a great step forward that they are trying to engage the windsurfing community BEFORE implementing new zones that adversely affect us rather than us finding out once the poles go in when it's very hard to change things like what's happened in Port Phillip.

Someone has volunteered to liase with Parks Vic on Balnarring but so far we have no one from Bellarine. I've never sailed down that way so I can't comment on what are the good areas and which areas don't work for windsurfing. I know there are lots of people that do like to sail down there though - so I suggest that if this area is important to you then put your hand up to windsurfing Victoria to have your say before it's too late!

Cheers,
Fletch

Latest update!

I received a letter from Parks Vic today acknowledging the submission we put together and which I presented to them back in May. It sounded quite promising so fingers crossed we will actually see some change this Summer.... although still a long way to go.

See extract from letter below:

Dear Fletcher

Thank you for Windsurfing Victoria’s detailed submission regarding the shared wind sport zones in Port Phillip.

Parks Victoria appreciates the detailed submission that Windsurfing Victoria has developed to better clarify the needs of the windsurfing community and the physical restraints the current zones pose for the sport.

Parks Victoria has been in discussion with Transport Safety Victoria (TSV) with regard to reviewing the newly implemented zones. The wind sport zones will be included in this review and the information the group has provided will be very valuable in this assessment.

Over the next few months Parks Victoria will develop a proposal to make some minor changes to the zones and this will be submitted to TSV for approval.

Hi all,
Any updates on this?
Summer is about to start so in the absence of any change to this ridiculous situation, it looks like I'm going to be involved in some criminal behavior over the next few months.
See you all in the big house boys and girls. Don't bend over when you take your wetsuit off.

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fabulon31 said..
Hi all,
Any updates on this?
Summer is about to start so in the absence of any change to this ridiculous situation, it looks like I'm going to be involved in some criminal behavior over the next few months.
See you all in the big house boys and girls. Don't bend over when you take your wetsuit off.

It's all in play still.

Bear in mind, that there are more swimmers, dog walkers, life savers, kayakers, cyclists, joggers, sun bathers and in fact any other group than there are windsurfers...so we need to be nice.

Things escalate quickly if people are dicks especially if we aggravate the life savers who, like any group, are a mixed bunch of people with an assumed responsibility to protect swimmers.

and if you're going to break the rules, make the most of it and do it on an awesome windy day - take some big jumps off the nice waves that stack up at Dendy and Elwood..... don't just sail back and forth through the corner of the zone with a 6m on a sunny day when there are swimmers out.

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ginger pom said..

fabulon31 said..
Hi all,
Any updates on this?
Summer is about to start so in the absence of any change to this ridiculous situation, it looks like I'm going to be involved in some criminal behavior over the next few months.
See you all in the big house boys and girls. Don't bend over when you take your wetsuit off.

It's all in play still.

Bear in mind, that there are more swimmers, dog walkers, life savers, kayakers, cyclists, joggers, sun bathers and in fact any other group than there are windsurfers...so we need to be nice.

Things escalate quickly if people are dicks especially if we aggravate the life savers who, like any group, are a mixed bunch of people with an assumed responsibility to protect swimmers.

and if you're going to break the rules, make the most of it and do it on an awesome windy day - take some big jumps off the nice waves that stack up at Dendy and Elwood..... don't just sail back and forth through the corner of the zone with a 6m on a sunny day when there are swimmers out.

Thanks for the update ginger.
No dick here, just making light of the situation to disguise my genuine concerns.
I'd like to be able to say something witty now but I've got a sick feeling .
It's all very say.

n April this year a WV sub-committee submitted to Parks Victoria (PV) a proposal for a raft of changes to the beach and boating zones in Port Phillip Bay. This followed the implementation of new zoning by TSV, which resulted in windsurfing being prohibited from many popular launch sites, and the designation of “shared wind sport” areas, many of which are unsuitable for the safe practice of the sport.

Following due process, PV went to TSV to seek their support for a raft of changes to the boating zones, including those within the WV proposals. WV understands that some of these changes were supported by TSV, and that PV are now in the processes of seeking formal approval from the Director of Marine Safety to implement the changes. Then it will be a matter of finding the budget to undertake the changes.

WV will continue to engage PV to gain clarity on what changes put forward by PV were supported, which were not, and where the changes proposed by WV sit. And of course we will report back to our members via this page on any developments. A copy of the original Submission to Parks Victoria can be read on the WV website.

Well done , all I can say is "Thank God", I don't have to" Bay Sail", anymore! what a waist of time /effort and taxpayers money :(