SHOULD THE WAKSA FORUM HAVE A PAGE WITH ALL THE PAID UP MEMBERS NAMES AND THEIR FORUM USERNAME - THEN WE CAN SEE WHO IS WHINGING ABOUT WAKSA NOT DOING THIS OR THAT

FAR AND AWAY MOST EFFECTIVE WAY FOR WAKSA TO GET COUNCILS TO LISTEN IS TO BE ABLE TO SAY THEY REPRESENT 95% OF LOCAL KITERS

THEY WOULD THEN BE ABLE TO POINT OUT THAT 95% OF LOCAL KITERS ARE INSURED !!!!!

HOW ABOUT A WAKSA SMILEY FOR ALL POST WHO HAVE DONE THE RIGHT THING AND COUGHED UP THE CASH

dont think ive eva herd one positive thing out of you tiki!!

the thing is is that if WAKSA get more members, there is more of a driving force behind the kitesurfers- like the old saying -all for one and one for all!

the more members, means we all speak out as a crowd, and not as individuals. say waksa calls up about kiting at cott. do you think we have more chance saying 90% of kitesurfers in perth are in the association and all have insurance, rather then saying 40% of kitesurfers in perth are members but the other 60% dont have insurance and they are on there own!

i do know what your saying tiki but we do all need to do the most we can to ensure the sport has a bright future.

any other thoughts?

It appears that the reason the Cott Council did not contact WAKSA is that our point of contact (one of our own members) has been away for a few weeks and the Senior Ranger has had a gutfull and personally feals that we should be banned. He is now in the process of documenting evidence to support his case - even after the last meeting at the Cott Hotel it appears that he has had no difficulty in gathering significant evidence. As Vice President WAKSA I wrote to him yesterday after speaking with him on the phone to plead to give self-regulation a fair go - what more do you expect WAKSA to do? Bottom line is that if people did what was agreed to at the WAKSA meeting at the Cott Hotel we wouldn't have this current problem!

The WAKSA committee are volunteers and put in a heap of time and effort to try and protect our sport plus a few other small tasks like organising the Australian Nationals next year, trying to provide State-level assistance to local working groups, establish a website, develop site guides, dealing with AKSA on National issues like standard safety guidelines, right of way rules, competition rules, insurance, etc.

We welcome any involvement from the kite surfing community whether you're a member or not, be that ideas or better still put your hand up to be one of the many volunteers that we need to actually DO some of the actions that Tiki and others complain that never get done - the reality is that three or four of us can't do it all oursleves.

I am probably more frustrated than Tiki in how long it takes to get things actioned, but many of these issues require consultation (the least of which is with the kite surfing community) and negotiation with the authorities. Everyone has an opinion and it is often difficult to find a workable compromise solution that everyone is happy with.

WAKSA is YOUR Association (even if you're not a member) and will only be as effective if it is seen by Councils, etc to represent our sporting group - they nearly all ask how many kite surfers are there in WA and how many are members of WAKSA. Public liability cover is also a MAJOR issue for these government bodies. If you can't see that being a member of WAKSA is a major step in protecting your local site I don't know what is?

If you don't like what the current WAKSA committee is doing then tell them or better still put your hand up as a committee member or volunteer to help out your local working group.

There are also many other benefits that WAKSA will get once it gets enough members eg become elligible for government funding to send WA teams interstate for the Australian Nationals in 2006, etc.



Cheers,
Ian Young
www.flysurf.com.au
0414 716 812

no one was critisizing anyone. how much sucking up do we have to do here ffs.

my solution, and its positive - im just kiteing responsibly as i can, trying not to piss anyone off. I dont set up near people, i dont kite on top of swimmers, i try and be as friendly as i can to people on the beach. I see others setting up amoung people all the time but if i went and told them to move, im sure id get told to piss off so i mind my own business. I talk to the blow ins and let them know the beach is sensitive and to be careful of swimmers. when rangers come i wave and if they stop I have a chat. I reckon thats positive.

I dont want to go to meetings, i dont want to go in competitions, i just kite for the pleasure - dont see why we should be "shamed" for that.

So my positve contribution - im not pissing anyone off. I love kiteing. Stuff ya all for "name and shame" and all the rest of the political crap!!!

Tiki I,ll give you the bite your obviously asking for and I wont squat behind a user name

You are an extraordinary person who fails to put across their view clearly or constructively and are seemingly only fishing for a bite or enjoying the angst you cause through your responses

no one expects you to go to meetings/comps if you dont want to and I would say most are happy for the pleasure you get from kiting, but heres a little awakening for you...

a ban in this spot means no more kiting... this includes you -

politics my friend like it or hate it governs/drives a lot of things and runs a little deeper than the WAKSA committee... LoL

the real danger in this is setting a precedence that other shires/councils will follow that may one day affect your favorite spot

yeah yeah i can see why my points are so confusing. the point that WAKSA does a good job, i choose not to be involved in associations. I try and protect the beach by kiteing responsibly and being friendly to other beach users. Thats so confusing

If you get agro because I say this, no wonder u get anon nicks. Protect contributors to forums from people who get physcho when they dont agree with soemthing im off for a while - wasting time..i should have just said "yeah crucify anyone not in waksa, everyone in waksa is a saint and anyone who is not is to blame for losing beaches" and meanwhile set up my kite next to people sunbaking and landing within inches of swimmmers..thats fine if you are in waksa cause you are a legend and kept myself out of trouble haha

i just say - if everyone kites responsibly and encourages other people on the beach ( non WAKSA memebers) to do the same, there would be no problem. stuff ya agro physcho forum memebers who think this is so bad, im scared now il be hacked and lose my hard drive[}:)] and have stalkers outside my house

Suggesting people use there insurance/membership as a means of protection or immunity against acting irresponsibly e.g. setting up in busy swiming areas riding/jumping close to swimmers etc, is IMO a seriously warped perspective.

I do not agree its necessary to identify whether users of this forum are members or not, IMO it wont achieve much and does not really contribute to finding a solution to this crisis

This about having a little forsight and preperation into dealing with issues possibly coming our way - with input from persons (members) who it will affect (All).

I for one am not going to sit back and wait to be told I cant kite here or there anymore, I am going to do everything I can to prevent a ban from my local favorite spot. If one council goes this direction with a complete ban rest assured other councils will consider there position in this regard. The first obvious step I can see is generating a larger member base for our state association so we can demonstrate the majority are insured and eductaed in safe kiting protocol.

The days of lip service are over we have to be seen to be doing the right thing e.g. local working groups, consultation with the authorities, signs, site guides etc, godd will does not cut it and in the view of the authorities self regulation has/is not working.

Brady

Your local guy is Jon Keys (jkeys). his details are around, or you can email him via his nic (jkeys).

get involved mate! we really need everyone on board with this.

if you know people who are not members of WAKSA, prompt them to join, it REALLY makes a difference. Ask your local guys about the changes we made at last nights WAKSA meeting, grab a few forms and get them out there if you are able.

Thanks ;) Dean Gilkison

Another 'Airface', only not totally slanderous!

nb. Ref post about 6 months ago.

L