Guys,

Outcome of council meeting last night…below is what I presented.

Wants :-

1. Weather station mounted on light pole close to kiting beach.
2. Wind sock calibrated to 25knots on light pole
3. Shower extension from drinking fountain at west end of carpark.
4. Beach sign indicating dual use of facilities (similar to Brighton Beach)
5. No to kite schools, beach is not big enough unlike St Kilda.


Pt 1 was received very favourably, especially when I suggested it could be used by the yacht club, fishing club etc etc, having more than one group means funding would be easier to obtain. COOL HUH !!

Pt 2 was also seen as OK but obviously not so important if we have point 1
Pt 3 not possible at present with current water restrictions, however there are working showers in the new pavilion opposite to the surf live save biulding.

Pt 4 I took photo's of the one on Brighton beach which was very informative, the council was keen on this idea as it highlights hazards and rules etc for both kiters and spectators.they can write what they want on it and we will be involved in the design and text.

Pt 5 right now NO kite schools have permission to set up on altona beach, including Kite replublic, who were acting without council permission last summer !!

And they have no intention of allowing it due to the size of beach etc.

The whole chat was very positive, they asked all the right questions about how much space to rig, rigging time, how many people use the beach right now etc,

There is a state revision of all boating and access rules for the bay, there has been a large increase in water craft, including us and a complete overhall of the current regulations is underway, for example, did you know there is an exclusion zone around the pier for all water craft ??

Apparently in 2005 a severe storm reduced the size of altona beach ? (Anyone know anything about this?) the state is looking at funding to reclaim the beach and make it wider the whole length !! Amazing idea I know but true. So we would have a much wider choice of beach to rig up on, probably years away but you never know.

The council was in no way looking to stop us using the beach and wanted to encourage us, but obviously it is a multi use area and all people have to be catered for.

They were very keen to have people insured through KBV and were looking for some way to make people take lessons, but this would have to come down from the aus kite association and is virtually impossible to police so not probable I think,

They were also happy with a local club or chapter wether just social or otherwise, so this is something we need to progress ourselves I think. (AKA)

As far as water quality, the EPA does all the tests and currently altona is OK but those interested can check on the EPA site. Chery lake is NOT recommended due to contamination !!!!

They said it'll be a couple of weeks before we have any feed back and I was very quick to offer our help if it was needed with any info or whatever, so as a first step I was very pleased with the way it went and hope to continue a good relationship with them in the future.

Thanks again for all your support.

Cheers Simon.

Nice work Simon.
It was good to hear that most of the outcomes were positive.

There was a huge storm a few years back that had the wave coming over the wall. It shifted a lot of sand around and changed the structure of the beach and waters close to shore.

Let us know if we can help with any follow ups.

conor said...

Good Work
I hope to become a new face down at altona this season.
Just got gear today

Don't wanna sound like an ol' fuddy duddy... but make sure ya' get those lessons, from a real reliable source... and then make sure ya enjoy ya self safely. Cya on a beach.