Attention Sydney Kiters

It appears that Sutherland Shire Council has plans to fence the foreshore of Silver Beach, Kurnell. This will seriously impact on our kiting access. There are also plans to revegetate Bonna Point, a popular winter kiting spot.

There is a public meeting with Council on Saturday 10:00am, 12th February at Bonna Point (far western end of Silver Beach, Kurnell).

If this proposal goes ahead it will have an impact on kiting safety and result in very limited beach access.

Please come along and show your support to the Kurnell residents who also do not want this development.

Sutherland Shire Council proposes to upgrade Bonna Point Reserve, Kurnell. The upgrade will include landscape improvements to the reserve, and an upgrade of the playground and car park.
You are invited to attend a meeting to discuss the proposed upgrade with representatives from Council's Parks & Waterways Branch and the landscape architecture consultants CLOUSTON Associates. The meeting will be held at Bonna Point Reserve, at the end of Prince Charles Parade, Kurnell, between 10am and 11am on Saturday 12th February 2011.
People who are unable to attend the meeting but would like to provide suggestions can download the reply paid questionnaire below, or pick up the questionnaire from the council foyer in Eton Street, Sutherland. For more information call 9710 0333.

http://www.sutherlandshire.nsw.gov.au/files/32aa320c-25a7-498c-9a1d-9e7800d613da/Bonna_Point_Community_Consultation_Questionnaire_pdf.pdf

Click on the link their are a few initial concept sketches.

Councils value these input days, we have attended one before and almost designed the entire park ourselves with the help of the landscape architects. Worthwhile timing. You may even be able. To get some amenities close by, with an outside shower and hose tap to wash the gear down afterwards. It isn't everyday a council is going to invest in some money for infrastructure, so give it a go.

We believe SS Council wants to fence from high water mark back to almost the road. The only access we will have is in front of the Catarmaran Club and walkways down to the beach which is completely unacceptable for the Cat Club and kiter alike.

As most people know the local resident kiters have, at their own expense, made a grassed area for rigging and landing. This will go.

Please respond to this thread up until Saturday to keep it high on the current list and do as kyteryder says.

Nice work Kyterider.

Probably also worth posting this in the windsurfing section as they may be impacted as well.

The more voices the better...

kitebad said...

We need to get the locked gate open to enter gain access to the car park , and retain the large open grassed areas to safely set up launch / land . which may be turned in to bush land and fenced off.

I think they lock that gate because you get people turning up at night doing doughnuts and pulling out the fence posts and tearing up the grass.

Why would you want to launch from that area anyway? The convention is that the windsurfers launch from the western groynes and the kitesurfers launch further to the east (or have I imagined that?).

I was out there yesterday and saw that guys were launching their jetskis from the beach and drove on the beach to do it. No doubt doing this destroys the vegetation and the beach gets eroded, which is probably what the council want to stop.

They would probably stop some of the erosion by putting in designated paths so that everyone walked in the same place.

Why would you want to launch from that area anyway?

Your kidding right that spot was the first area the locals set up from before they locked the gate a few years ago , and was the best place as ya can ride , southerly , SW -NW .both sides of the point depending on wind direction eg
NE wind direction ride over the sandbar which is the No 1 flat water riding location southside , and kiteboarders are able land their kites safely behind the trees in that area of the park if their is no one around .
And it was a out of the way from the catamaran club and main used beaches.
Since the carpark has been locked a few of us kite in front of our beachfront houses only in a NEa with the local crew and on weekends can have over 30 kiters
mixing it up with cat-club , it would be good to spread it out a bit and have more options


As for the dic__heads , hoons if they have a 4WD they can get round the locked gate , most people , kiteboarders ,windsurfers do the right thing .

The locals would like to see the carpark reopened.

i was very concerned after hearing this, i spent some time on the phone with the council and they sent me the proposed area for upgrading and the proposed fencing along the foreshore.

they say the fencing will help stop erosion etc and will go no further west of the post office groyne, if the council stick to their word its not as bad.

BUT on the other hand it will force beach goers who dont see easy access to the beach towards the western end where the kiters boats and windsurfers are packing the place.

i have grown up in kurnell and used bonna point since i could walk for sailing, windssurfing etc. i oppose any so called upgrade and would support a more soft approach to helping endagered vegetation and better plan to stop the idiot 4WD owners who try to get in there and on the beach.

A number of us went to the meeting today to see what all the fuss was about. This meeting was only about Bonna Point and not about the fencing of the dunes We will keep you informed. The meeting is planned for early March.

The design put forward is in no way complete and does not meet our needs. What they want is input from residents and other interested parties, like kiters.

This is our chance to state our requirements for Bonna Point. So, please get thinking and submit your ideas to NSWKBA [email protected] so we can draft a proposal and submit it to the planners.

These are early stages and a show of numbers has strength.

also thank you to all the concerned kiters that turned up and showed that we care not only about the penisular but the residents as well

The plan idicated that they will plant the entire area where we rig for souterly wind with native bush grass which grows to about two feet long , that is why it was shaded a darker green than the other grassed areas ,

and there is still an intention to fence the waterfront for dune preservation but they will only talk about that at the next progress meeting on the 7th of March so it is all still in the pipe;ine.

Kit33r, sounds like it a productive meeting, and a good turn out.
Thanks for keeping everyone informed of the progress. I don't kite their very often, but appreciate the local kite community having a voice, so when blow ins like me want to kite that side if the bay, I know we will have a great setup.

Thanks
KR

Well done brothers, just to add a bit more news

The out come of the Bonna Point meeting , which SSC didnot say to the group, but to a few people when asked was that the oval shaped areas in the upgrade master plan are not low lawn areas ( as Rick said ) but 1m high tall thick type of grass that will not but maintained but left to grow wild , this means its not use to walk / play on , in fact it will end up we rubbish , rats and snakes , they also want to fence off the bonna point dunes on the beach their , Ban dogs .
For me its a down grade , if this goes ahead we kiteboarders cannot use this area at all , the SSC want it for the birds that was made clear , No Car parking No dogs.

What the residents want:
The most of 99% of local residents at the meeting, want Bonna Point to be as it is and to be fully maintained eg more bins , more parking , weekly lawn / tree care and much more playground equipment , locked gate open and access to the carpark during the day.

What the residents dont want :
They dont more people/ hoons coming out to Kurnell , thats the locals moved here its a Quiet location to give an eg the kids play hand ball on the main street Prince Charles Parade (beach front ) during the week after school during peak hr traffic cause their is no traffic.
But on the weekend their are traffic jams loads of people, any upgrades = more load /strain on the community , hope this explains things .

Now we can talk about fencing, SSC did not want us to talk about fencing off silver beach till after the Bonna Point meeting.

At the moment SSC plan to build 2 fences for the wharf to Bonna Point (the whole beachfront )one is on the high tide mark , and one next to the rock wall
and veg it out with bushland in between , this is extremely disappointing news.
So now we have to fight for 2 areas , cover for all wind directions.
1/ Bonna Point
2/ Silver Beach

What we have to do is make the Sutherland Shire Council recognise that Kurnell is one of the most popular kiteboarding locations in Sydney
and give us designated areas not fenced off , to be able to cope with the numbers safely.

1/ After attending the Bonna Point meeting , in my mind the bird lovers could win again , no access no set up area, this could mean
Southerly SW -W, cannot be kited anymore.

2/ Kurnell,s NE winds are the best and most popular with kiteboarders then the No 1 NE spot (as it is today )would then be
in front of the local resident kiteboarders beachfront homes , east of Bonna point , this area is managed extremely well ,and its the social point for kiteboarders , where we have a few beers after a big session
Go to youtube type Kurnell bigair day if you would like view this location and please support us.






Safe Kiting........

Just bumping this thread up again as it looks like we have have to call in the kitesurfing and windsurfing community to help stop what i feel will wreck one of the great area's in southern sydney.

does anyone know of how to get some kind of online petition started to save Bonna point point from the proposed downgrade?

we could see sailing, kiting windsurfing even kite flying stopped in this area if we dont all band togther fast and put something to the council.

this so called upgrade will see all the area utilised for southerly and westerly riding reclaimed as bushland and left for the seaguls and snakes.

from talking to as many people as possible the general concensous is to keep the area pretty much unchanged, minor changes such as toilet block upgrade, something to discourage hoons doing burnouts etc.

i will be approaching all kiters in the next nor easter to gather email address's, this is a proposal you do not want to see happen, please take notice.

there is also another proposal that is for the fencing of the beach front, stage one shows little effect but further stages will totally restrict the use of the beach for all and make the area very unsafe for kiters.

Been reading the earlier posts and read that the next meeting is on Mon the 7th of March.
Where abouts is the next meeting and what time does it start?

Hey guys,
I'm currently writing a story about the recent proposal for Bonna Point and I need a Kite surfer to voice their opinion on its impact? Would anyone be intersested in doing a phone interview? or you can email me?