tightlines said...

Poida said...

so is it ok to launch from in front of the endeavor tavern, just north of the main jetty??????

Not according to Lurch.

lurch said...

The new laws effectively ban kiting from the northern end of the park to a distance of 2 km, Lancelin Island point, this includes a ban on setting up at the jetty, the main launch area for South Passage. 200m from the southern end of the park is also banned, leaving only the point at Eddies.

Which will mean working back upwind from North Point or cruising down from the other end (Eddies)to get to the spot that you want to be.....Perhaps we should all start hitting Mainbreak instead

I can't find anything on the GinGin website to say that kiting is banned from the Northern end of the park for 2km. All the releases only specify the grassed area, i.e. Grace Darling Park.

The letter from the councillor to RayQ would also seem to indicate this and that kiters would be "encouraged" to use Edward Island Point.

The pdf release (http://www.gingin.wa.gov.au/Documents/KITE%20SURFING%20DETERMINATION.pdf) also acknowledges that the "Council has no jurisdiction over the ocean and, therefore, is unable to prevent kite surfers from the area of water adjoining Reserve 32942."

So, the only prohibition seems to be rigging up at the grassed area which also includes the beach that goes from the grass to the water as show in my previous post.

So, we can kite anywhere we want to at Lancelin, respecting the local idiosyncratic right-of-way rules, just don't rig up at Grace Darling Park.

Correct?

Cheers.

Further to my comments as to what constitues "kite surfing activities" for the purposes of the Regulations, it also appears the Council does not have the power to regulate kitesurfing.

According to http://www.gingin.wa.gov.au/Documents/KITE%20SURFING%20DETERMINATION.pdf the Shire of Gingin Local Government Propery Local Law 2004 allows for defined activities to be regulated.

Clause 2.1(1)(b) states the Council may make a determination prohibiting activities referred to in clause 2.8. Clause 2.8 does not specifically refer to kitesurfing, or even a class of activities that would include kitesurfing. Clause 2.8 is set out below:

2.8 (1) A determination may provide that a person is prohibited from pursuing all
or any of the following activities on specified local government property -
(a) smoking on premises;
(b) riding a bicycle, a skateboard, roller-blades, a sand-board or a
similar device;
(c) taking, riding or driving a vehicle on the property or a particular class
of vehicle;
(d) riding or driving a vehicle of a particular class or any vehicle above a
specified speed;
(e) taking or using a boat, or a particular class of boat;
(f) the playing or practice of -
(i) golf, archery, pistol shooting or rifle shooting; or
(ii) a similar activity, specified in the determination, involving the
use of a projectile which, in the opinion of the local government
may cause injury or damage to a person or property;
(g) the playing or practice of any ball game which may cause detriment
to the property or any fauna on the property; and
(h) the traversing of sand dunes or land which in the opinion of the local
government has environmental value warranting such protection,
either absolutely or except by paths provided for that purpose

It would appear the Council is dreaming!

I also note reference was made to complaints against the behaviour of a "belligerent" permit holder in the area, but there was no discussion about withdrawing his license.

Councillor Maley appears to be the person driving the regulations and his email address is Email: [email protected].

Please, please, only email if you are actually a stakeholder and have genuine concerns. Please, please, please, send constructive emails designed to help the situation. Abusive emails will only inflame it.

I make no representations as to whether or not you should email Councillor Maley, and I only provide his email address as it is publicly available on:

www.gingin.wa.gov.au/

DISCLAIMER

Again, this is simply a post on an internet forum and should not be relied on by any person without first obtaining their own legal advice.

LaurieP said...

tightlines said...

Poida said...

so is it ok to launch from in front of the endeavor tavern, just north of the main jetty??????

Not according to Lurch.

lurch said...

The new laws effectively ban kiting from the northern end of the park to a distance of 2 km, Lancelin Island point, this includes a ban on setting up at the jetty, the main launch area for South Passage. 200m from the southern end of the park is also banned, leaving only the point at Eddies.

Which will mean working back upwind from North Point or cruising down from the other end (Eddies)to get to the spot that you want to be.....Perhaps we should all start hitting Mainbreak instead

I can't find anything on the GinGin website to say that kiting is banned from the Northern end of the park for 2km. All the releases only specify the grassed area, i.e. Grace Darling Park.

The letter from the councillor to RayQ would also seem to indicate this and that kiters would be "encouraged" to use Edward Island Point.

The pdf release (http://www.gingin.wa.gov.au/Documents/KITE%20SURFING%20DETERMINATION.pdf) also acknowledges that the "Council has no jurisdiction over the ocean and, therefore, is unable to prevent kite surfers from the area of water adjoining Reserve 32942."

So, the only prohibition seems to be rigging up at the grassed area which also includes the beach that goes from the grass to the water as show in my previous post.

So, we can kite anywhere we want to at Lancelin, respecting the local idiosyncratic right-of-way rules, just don't rig up at Grace Darling Park.

Correct?

Cheers.

I think I'll rig up where I allways have, away from werner, next stop is the bombing range or back beach with km's of perfect beach setup,

sounds like werner just talked his way out of that one with the tourism stuff, i cant imagine that a psycho running the only windsurfing school up there (is it the only one?) is particularly good for tourism, especially in a small town. Does he get many repeat customers? surely a good operator would be better for lanno in general and perhaps even the windsurfer/kiter relationship?

A year on it would be interesting to see if he has his toursim accreditation...whatever it is, like he has to. Obviously the council take complaints seriously. Maybe if everyone posted complaints to council and not here he'd be outta there and some other worthy seadog could be running a good show up there instead?

Hi all,
I am very happy to be back kitesurfing in WA after 2 years in France (where I come from).
Since what a surprise and shock to see that the sport has started to take the same path as it has in Europe, that being a negative path...
I always thought I would have a break here from kitesurfing regulations and restrictions as there is so much space for everyone to share.
here is a google map of my home spot in france
www.google.fr:443/maps?hl=fr&ie=UTF8&ll=43.5353,7.038031&spn=0.001124,0.003449&t=h&z=18
(if you can't figure out where to launch from the map check the bit of helipad at the southern part of the car park...). this space now fits a good 30 to 50 kitesurfers and a handfull of windsurfers on the busy days but it had not always been as a peacefull relationship.
5 years ago when kitesurfing population started to grow we had the same problem with the council and some thickheaded windsurfers.
I have to say that I come from windsurfing and have absolutely no problem with most of them who are cool and respectfull.
Back then the cops would show up whenever somebody tried to launch from the helipad (out of use of course) or the stretch of beach nearby.
I skip the fun part of being chased by the sea rangers on their dingees, the fines waiting on your windscreen and the gear being confiscated.

All this to tell you guys that if nowdays we are still allowed to kite in Cannes and launch from the helipad (I know that is not the safest but what else can you do when you don't have any better...)
is thanks to the great job put together by the kitesurfing local association. Without that I could have kissed goodbye to my favorite occupation.
It has been long and painfull but we now have won the battle.
Funilly in 5 years time most of the pissy windsurfers got themselves into kiteboarding (don't worry, they are pissy kitesurfers now but at least they won't call the cops for prohibited kitesurfing activities ... )

All in all I would much have preferred some good old sense of courtesy from everyone involved and not have to be restricted to a single spot (yes we have plenty of other nice launching areas such as rock jetties and sidewalks )

Stand up for your rights people don't let some old psycho fart crap your session. You would have guessed that I had the same experience as a lot of you with that werner guy 2 years ago. So lets all lodge in a formal complaint. WAKSA will sure help the things go further. It will pay off eventually.

By the way I found the surf be much nicer than "mainbreak" if you go a bit south upwind and further at sea in the bay from "eddies". Of course it's a fair bit of upwind sailing before you reach it but at least you are by yourself. Not being a local I don't know if it works all the time or only on big swell days. Some others may have to confirm it.
Probably shouldn't have said that as now all the windsurfers will go riding there

Kitepeace and good ride to everybody!

Zed said...
I don't know if it's a minority of Kitesurfers who are to blame, but it's up to Kitesurfers themselves to improve the reputation of their sport not everyone else. When you see a fellow kiter, in the wrong area it should be YOU that advises him of that, not a ranger.

Hey Zed, I think you'll be surprised how much a lot of people go out of their way to help each other in kiting. Not sure where your local beach is, but uninviting kiters is not really typical in my experience.

Zed said...

You guys need to stop seeing Windsurfers/Rangers/Werner/joe Public etc as the enemy and start thinking why Kitesurfers are so unpopular. Google "kitesurfing" and "banned" and you'll see what I'm talking about. This is nothing to do with Kitesurfing being a new sport, or being 'cooler' or whatever, it simply comes down to one small little fact, a powered up Kiter takes up 20m+ a windsurfer probably takes up 1m.. do the mental arithmetic... I've sailed main break with 50+ poleys including noob Euros who haven't a clue and that has been 1000 times better than sailing Main break with 10 poleys and 5 kiters. Throw into the equation this puerile, 'moody teenager' attitude that seems to predominate the world of Kitesurfing, you then have a sport that is about as welcome as Clamidya.

I don't know if it's a minority of Kitesurfers who are to blame, but it's up to Kitesurfers themselves to improve the reputation of their sport not everyone else. When you see a fellow kiter, in the wrong area it should be YOU that advises him of that, not a ranger.

Zed, agree totally with your last paragraph. As you may know, WAKSA and local beach user groups, as well as individual kiters, instructors, etc have made significant and sustained efforts to address safety and courtesy aspects of the sport.

I would call it a minority which are the cause of your Google search results (hardly a reliable evaluation anyway ). Likewise your 'mental arithmetic' and estimations I think are slightly exaggerated - take a look at how many fit into some European kite spots for example. A downed kite does take up about 20m with the lines and a downed sail, about 3m - sure but kiters in the waves generally don't drop their kites. Compare this to 3 or so windsurfers who regularly botched their gybes when I was out a couple of days ago. But the point I'm really trying to make is at the bottom!

If you're old enough to remember the start of windsurfing, you may also recall the reservations the public and other water users had about the 'new' sport.

My point is: I respect the facts that if I'm kiting, I've got long lines, and I'm also doing a new sport which windsurfers / others may not be too comfortable with.

So I set up away from other non-kiters, I keep my kite high above other water users and keep my distance, I continue to abide by sail and wave rules and avoid collisions at all costs, plus I respect the fact that windsurfers were there 'first' at Lano - as Kitehard has said... and I smile and chat to my fellow humans (especially if they smile back!)

...oh, and I have fun! See ya out there!!!

Benz said...

who put that sign up?

Who cares?!