Last night the City of Joondalup made a significant decision for kiters. Before saying too much about the outcome, it’s time to publically recognise some of the contributors to that outcome.

First of all, Councillor Trona Young. Without her involvement and assistance kiters would not have the outcome we have today. In future, when someone refers to ‘Saint Trona of Mullaloo’ it will be in recognition of the work she put in to this issue. Ably assisted by Councillor Phillipa Taylor, local kiters owe both these councillors significant gratitude.

The Joondalup councillors who supported Saint Trona’s amendments also need recognition and gratitude. If you have the time, an email to the following Councillors expressing your thanks and appreciation would not go astray:

[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

Without their support Saint Trona's efforts would not have been successful.

The leadership of the Mullaloo Surf Life Saving Club must also be recognised. Without their engagement and support for the proposal, kiting at Mulllaloo would be in peril. To Anne-Marie and Chiz, thank you.

Last night we saw a community come together in quite literally, a moment of need. We had at least 80 kiters from Fremantle, Melville, and all parts in between attend the meeting, to show their support and solidarity with kiters from Mullaloo. When 80 concerned kiters make the effort to show up like that (and the anti-kiting community manage to get 3 people), the Joondalup councillors could see the concern and commitment shown to the issue.

Throughout this process and over the past week, we have seen many new heroes. A 14 year old kid who stands up and speaks to the council, a teacher who stands up for kiters, veteran kiters (well, ok, Ray’s not that old, just ‘experienced’) and kiters emailing, ringing, speaking to the Councillors. It has all paid off. Thank you to all of your individual efforts in this campaign.

The City of Joondalup council has decided that kiting at Mullaloo will continue. A management plan will be put in place over the coming weeks/months that will feature two exclusion zones on the beach and a designated launch/land zone.

The exclusion zones will effectively cover the flagged areas set up by Mullaloo SLSC but will provide a launch/landing zone for kiters to set up, and obviously launch and land from. We expect CoJ will provide us with maps/aerial photos that we will post as soon as possible so everyone can clearly see the areas outlined.

CoJ have stated the need for a review after the coming season, and will ‘re-visit’ the whole issue by September 2012.

WAKSA and the Mullaloo Kite User Group have already indicated to Mullaloo SLSC officials that we want to meet to discuss how the plan will be implemented in the short term and to put all the issues on the table.

Crew, this is a significant outcome but it’s not over yet.

The local anti-kiting residents will be out in force, watching and waiting for anyone to break the rules that have now been established. Joondalup has put kiters on notice also – there are now some very clear obligations and guidelines for kiting at Mullaloo – it is up to local kiters to self regulate this beach so that problems do not happen. WAKSA will provide resources to assist in this process and we have committed to work with the Council to ensure amongst other things, that appropriate signage is installed.

This outcome must be seen as a significant outcome for kiters. Rather than setting a precedent for local councils to ban or restrict kiting, it provides the other councils with a blue print on how to maintain access for kiters.

Finally, to the local kite crew at Mullaloo – next time you see Dave Arkless buy the man a beer or two. He is your local hero.

sweet,
i saw a headline on today show thismorning before work "flying kites banned at a famous australian beach"
I felt like someone had died. Glad to hear a sensible compromise was reached.
I see no peril in placing rules restrictions and guidelines for kiters at beaches.
I sent an email to council for ya.

Very glad you got a result you could live with i hope it works and can be used as a model for any future discressions between beachgeors kiters and councils.

now it's upto you guys, please make it work
request adequate signage for tourists and intervene when you see a problem before an anti kiting candidate does.

Well done.
All your efforts have achieved the impossible. I really thought Mullaz was a gonner.
Glad to hear MSLC did the right thing in the end as without their support we were sunk. Much appreciated.

Good result, well done to everyone involved

Well done guys: persistance, respect and education shows off.

I went along to the Council meeting last night to see the argument in its flesh, and those that would have us banned. Mullaloo most certainly would have served as a precedent for other councils as public liability fears and the shrill of opponents resonated across Perth Metro.

The kiting communities argument was well formed, and had the support of champions within the Council in the form of Young and Taylor. I was certain there was no support within Council until Councilor Young spoke.

If this doesn't bring home the importance of WAKSA membership and self regulation on our beaches I don't know what does.

Congratulations, and I'll definitely be sending my thanks to the proponents

^^ nail on the head.

In addition to being obligated to self regulate, we will soon have the authority to do so once the exclusion / designated launch&land zones are written into the citys by-laws.

As noted by Darren self regulation will be key, and I expect will be supported by signage provided by the council, and flyers etc by waksa/mslsc.

Awesome outcome. Talk about snatching victory in the face of defeat.
Persistence and committed effort has paid off BIG time.
I doubt that many realise just how far and wide the ramifications of a loss of the extent we were staring at in Joondalup would have had.
Kiters all round Australia should be applauding the outcome of the 'Battle for Mullaloo'. We not only won the beach but we have won a major precedent.
I cannot speak highly enough of the attitude, ability, time and effort our new president put into this single issue. I agree 100% with Pat. Both Dave (MUGS) and Juddy (WAKSA) have served us extremely well (to say the least). You guys definitely Rock.

AND - I have to add - it makes the WAKSA job of fighting for kiters rights a very much more difficult affair when we can only claim an estimated 1/3 of kiters holding membership & insurance.
Every kiter who pumps up a kite anywhere; but esp. on any perth metro beach; from today on is bludging on the committed effort of those few who spend a great amount of their free time ensuring that you have that right.
It is not about a measly $65 annual fee its about support, comradeship and; most importantly; responsible kiting.

I am sure kiters without tags will not be welcomed on Mullaloo beach this season. (except by those on the other side who will be steadfastly recording the numbers).

Excellent - Couldn't have ask for a better result !

Well done WAKSA !

from Trona

And hats off to you guys doing your bit !

This would not have been possible without a lot of people coming on board
but there were four people who were invaluable, Justin from WAKSA (I would
buy him a beer) Dave Arkless, Anne-Marie the president of MSLSC and Chiz the
Director of lifesaving was amazing (beer also). If you get time please
encourage other kite surfers to go out of their way to thank these people
without them we had no chance.

Juddy and Dave, well done guys, a huge effort! Can not see you guys paying for a beer at Kite Stock next year.

This is a clear message to all WA Kiters "WAKAS membership is essential". It is a no brainer that we all pull together united to protect and develop this awesome sport.

I feel that if you kite, you should be a WAKSA member. We need to work on promotional ideas with WAKSA to get the membership out there.

So if the president of the Mullaloo surf club, and the lifesaving director did not want it banned, who did ? So is the end result just an exclusion around the flagged areas, or a desiginated area at north mullaloo ?

Yep big thanks to Justin, Dave and others.

Also special thanks to Councillor Trona Young who took the time to really research the issues, not only for our case but also I noted for other items on the agenda ie dog/horse beach etc.
Councillor Trona Young, the people of the City of Joondalup are lucky to have such a hard working, fair and rational person representing them.

I'm sure there will be some maps, signs etc provided later showing exact areas but basically my understanding is there will be an exclusion zone at the surf club and another one at the very Northern end of the beach (the last 700mtrs) both exclusion zones will extend out 200 mtrs.
We will get a designated area in between of I think 345mtrs.
Feel free to correct me if this is not the case.

As stated we will be being watched/photographed so please be on your best behavior and encourage others to do so as well.

Monkeyfish said...

well done " WASKA " !! haha NOT ... some of you will know what I mean ?

I hope so too.
Kite schools (well run ones like KBP) do heaps for safety & self regulation efforts.
They tend to remind us all that there are standards to be adhered to.

Congratulations to all involved.

I'm often not impressed by organizations, associations, committees or especially councils for that matter...my impression in the past has been that, while not always, they often can be a platform for ego's to stoke their own fires... or well meaning individuals getting lost in the power they possess.

Unfortunately for us the future may not be as bright as we hope for...
so now, more than ever, is the time for all kiters to be noted and recognized as the legitimate and responsible bunch that the majority of us are.

One things for sure... WAKSA has my vote and my membership for this new season coming and quite possibly many many more.

I hope other kiters who have not joined WAKSA or AKSA in the past strongly think about doing so... and show minority groups throughout Australia, especially one's of the negative variety, that we 'Kiters' are a legitimate and responsible bunch and are here to stay.

Hi all,

I just want to say a MASSIVE thanks to WAKSA. I am not going to get into a sickofantic rant about how much Justin has done for the Mullaloo cause this year (and Phil in previous years) as he knows how much I and all Mullaloo kiters appreciate everything he has done. What I think this proves is that WAKSA are invaluable in terms of kiting in WA and it is my opinion that everyone should stump up their $65pa. They have stuck by local kiters and supported us throughout. Whilst the fight is won for now at Mullaloo, WAKSA and Justin will be in talks with other Councils for many months and years to come. I for one will be there to offer support for other areas should they require it.

The result which we got last night is a result for kitesurfing throughout Australia. Ok, some will say that we lost 2.5kms of kitesurfing beach, but the reality is that the majority of the exclusion zones which will be put in place are areas which the local kiters abiding by the guidelines stayed away from anyway. More importantly for other beaches in WA and in Australia, the remainder of the 17kms of City of Joondalup coastline were left unrestricted to kitesurfers. In Joondalup that doesn't amount to much usable beach, however in other areas this may well do. Other than a slightly larger kiting zone on Mullaloo we could not of have a better result in the circumstances.

The surf club who we once regarded as being anti-kiting have shown that they are all about beach safety and that they are willing to compromise and work with the kiters to ensure we can remain on the beach in some form. I sincerely hope that Mullaloo kiters acknowledge and respect the invaluable part they played in last night's decision. MKUG and WAKSA have already been in contact with the surf club in order to start communication about putting a plan together particularly in the intermin period before the council have arranged signage etc.

It has been said above, but I will reiterate the point - this is just the first step. We retained kiting on Mullaloo Beach, but it is up to all kiters to behave, respect the zone and not to think 'oh sod it, there is no one on the beach in the exclusion zone I will kiter there anyway'. If you do this you will be knocking a nail into the coffin. If this goes before council at the 2 year review with evidence of non-compliance, I for one will not waste my time fighting because it will be pointless. We are being given a chance to prove ourselves. Lets ALL do exactly that.

Watch this space for news of season opener / celebratory BBQ / information session at Mullaloo.

Cheers
Dave
Mullaloo Kiters USer Group

lemming said...
Watch this space for news of season opener / celebratory BBQ / information session at Mullaloo.

Yeah a party - I vote for a party.
pls make it after the Expo Trek.

hooray for a party kite.
I'm away 24th sept-10th oct in cambodia.
then 18-22nd oct and nov 9-12th with camping trips.