Hi everyone,
My name is Gwen I am the part owner of Perth Kitesurfing School with Loic. First of all it's good to see the thread above which mostly makes good points, I usually turn away from forums as I find nothing productive comes out of them with people pushing their own agenda aggressively unsupported by actual arguments.
That said I feel I can contribute to this thread. So here it is!
1. The decision of banning schools temporarily from Woodman Point will indeed penalise the schools rather than the rogue instructors and thus defeats the purpose of the ban from the start. A beach with no instructors is definitely not as safe as a beach with too many, however you put it. Accidents happen when people buy kit and have no idea how to use it. A shop will not turn down a $3000 sale and the second hand market and online shops would still provide gear even if the shops didn't. Readily available schools at multiple places is thus the best option. Woodman Point is one of the best spots to kite and teach in Western Australia and around the world. The lack of other beach users on beach one should make it the perfect candidate for a kiting and learning zone!
2. The schools (or at least Perth Kitesurfing School which is the busiest school at Woodman Point) have not been consulted in this decision at all which seems strange, even if just to get a grasp of the amount of lessons given, the number of accidents recorded, etc. I thus believe that “the report” is made out of letters and complaints from kiters and kite schools who selfishly would rather not have kite schools (or only their own) at Woodman Point regardless of it being a positive thing for the sport.
3. The schools have not been warned of this decision, have not been given opportunity to respond, have not been given a timeframe within which to reorganise business and lessons, even though we have been in contact with the council and applications have been put in. We were told back in October 2010 that the City of Cockburn was interested in formalising the use of Woodman Point for Kitesurfers and Kite Schools but that nothing was put in place yet, until this day, nothing has been put in place.
4. The reports of dangerous practice simply do not work with facts. I would take a wild guess and say that all schools combined, since Choice Kitesurfing has left in 2010 and we have started teaching there, about 3000 lessons of 2h have taken place (6000h, 250 full days of teaching). There has been one broken leg. I was there when this incident happened and it could have happened to any school. The fact is that the student was already riding independently but made a mistake, it could have happened outside of a lesson. What we need to understand is that it is not a risk free activity, we simply try to minimise risks and I feel that one incident unrelated to the amount of schools on the beach in 3000 lessons is a good number. The best way to minimise risk being to have trained instructors acting accordingly to the standards set for the use of the particular beach. Go to any regular football club (probably even lawn ball) and I'm sure you will find that there are way more incidents and injuries reported, why is it that when a kitesurfer gets hurt it sounds as if the blame should be put on someone? Some kite school owners claim Woodman Point is a “chaos and a circus”, while they are never ever present and have decided to boycott any agreement with other beach users and kite schools. Who has seen kite school owners other than myself and Loic at Woodman Point this season or the previous season or the one before that for that matter? It just seems like some people have decided to frighten the council in order to push forward their own agenda. The numbers show it, we do our job well, we should be encouraged to keep doing so.
5. Self-governing has been mentioned and some have been blaming the schools for not regulating the spot before the council kicked in. Without a licence, even if we did spot the rogue instructors (does that include the Kite addiction instructors and SOS instructors?) what could we have done? Tell them to leave? Furthermore some kite school owners have outright refused to compromise so far and thus regulate the spot. Again, apart from individuals complaining that it is too busy, there hasn't been many incidents, we have managed to make this work so far. That said it could definitely be managed better with council support as things could be enforced rather than suggested.
6. We have tried to get a licence since 2009, after Choice Kitesurfing left and before other schools got banned from other locations (Coogee) and showed up at Woodman Point. Other schools have been applying for a licence too. A decision could have been made a long time ago and prevented the current situation which penalises the wrong parties.
7. We have approached the 2 main other schools that use Woodman Point (KSS and Elemental) last year after a WAKSA meeting to put in an application together to co-regulate the spot: setting a maximum number of instructors, and formalising the ways the beach should be used. This option of co-regulation was dismissed by other owners which simply have no understanding of how lessons at Woodman Point happen, and simply delegate to their instructors (who fortunately have been good to work with unlike their bosses). The instructors of these schools change every year, have no previous understanding of the spot or its users. That said, most of them have been happy to comply with basic guidelines understanding that if everyone got along there would be less trouble. The multiple school option would prevent schools from becoming factories with tens of instructors, and monopolising prices, which ultimately will give place to better practice and a better deals for clients. We are still happy to pursue this option.
8. We understand that locals don't want their beach swamped with beginners. We are quite happy to move downwind to the main beach at beach 1 which is what we have been doing up until now. We could move further down to ensure there is enough space for the locals to ride the waves. However, if we were to do this we would need the downwind car parks to be safer. When we started teaching 3 seasons ago at Woodman Point we were teaching from the 2nd car park at Woodman Point, however cars kept being broken into so we moved up to the top end of the beach. Car break-ins are a consistent issue. If the council decides to put up a licensing system we could definitely move down wind, and even invest ourselves in cameras or other security systems but for this we need council support, which we haven't had so far. You kiters who know how to kite already, please remember how you started and be courteous to beginners who are indeed a little overwhelmed when you come riding too close to them.
9. Other spots around the world are way more crowded than Woodman Point is. The fact is that Perth is growing, there are more people everywhere, not just at Woodman Point. Sorry for those who feel there isn't enough space for them to ride, but there ill be more people out there as Western Australia increases population, that is a fact, it isn't to blame on the schools. Thanks to the schools, the additional kiters know what they are doing .
10. It has been mentioned in the thread that there were concerns about Woodman Point being an adequate beach to teach on. It is side onshore; we know it, which is why our students learn how to body drag upwind as a first skill, in the instructor's presence. Once they are at a safe distance from the beach they may practice flying the kite in the power zone. Unless schools teaching at sideshore locations launch and land kites from the water I don't see how with that technique (which indeed not every school at Woodman Point enforces) teaching at Woodman Point is any more dangerous than another location. Unfortunately people need to know how to fly their kite on land as well you thus have to give them a try at some point. No school in Perth teaches exclusively from water (which carries other risks) so please stop patronising. The advantage we have over say Pinnaroo is that there are barely any beach users other than kiters at Woodies which means that everyone there (beginner or not) is aware of the activity taking place which inescapably makes the practice safer. That said every beach is different and there are solutions to most problematic situations, including at Woodman, Safet Bay, Shoalwater, Melville and Pinnaroo.
11. Some schools teach with more than one kite in the air. If safety was your main concern, I believe you would give up that practice which prevents the instructor from being “there” at all times in case of trouble. Nothing new under the sun, one cannot split and be in two places at the same time!
12. The use of power boats at woodies would be more of nuisance than anything else, and with the side onshore wind students are inevitably brought back to the beach if in trouble, which is not the case at side shore locations. I have heard of stories of people breaking gear (the bar) out at Pinnaroo and thought they would die out there swimming with the gear for over an hour, getting no help from anyone, kiters and non-kiters. We all know how dangerous rips are, mainly because people get exhausted swimming against the current; swimming long distances with gear is the same. This would not happen at Woodman Point. Again this risk is minimised if people are taught how to “self-rescue” with a proper lesson from a proper school.
13. We have not just been taking and not given back. Perth Kitesurfing School has organised rubbish pick-ups on clean up Australia Day and other occasions taking part in the “Two Hands Project” (consisting of using your two hands for 30min to pick up rubbish at your favourite spot and build a repertoire of what is found to lobby against the use of plastic: www.twohandsproject.org/about/). On top of this we pick up rubbish while we teach and yes it is true that the beach could be cleaner, we just try to do our part! We would be happy to get more involved with the community and have thought of organising cheaper lessons and a second hand kit network to provide a summer activity to disadvantaged kids who might otherwise be up to no good (including those breaking into cars at Woodman Point). Projects like these are not straightforward but sometimes hugely successful and so worth it. Again for things like these to happen long term planning is necessary and council support is essential.
14. How can you pretend to be involved with safety standards and community concerns when you are simply not present? Complaining about a situation is simply not good enough, you have to participate to find a solution. Woodman Point does need some sort of regulation even though the situation is not as bad as some would like to portray it to push forward their own agenda, the fact is that there has only been one accident in 3 seasons. Yes accidents happen, all we can do is reduce the severity and occurrence of accidents, schools are the best tool to do this. Perth Kitesurfing School is committed to work with all the parties involved, other schools, the council, the locals and other beach users to provide high safety standards, participating in improving the sport, the local community and the local environment. We believe the option of 2-3 schools at Woodman Point with a maximum number of instructors is the best option for the locals and for the clients, however if the council decides there is only space for one school, which some schools will be pushing for, we will be applying to have that exclusivity.
Until further developments, blue windy skies to all, ride safe and keep the beaches and the ocean clean!
The PKS team
A very good relationship with the ranger and a direct phone number should insure a quick response but have no fear, if it carries on i will check downwind and cut a line 
