This item is from today's Sunshine Coast Daily

"High flyers on notice

04.05.2007
By Peter Gardiner
MARINE thrillseekers may have to go surf a kite outside the Noosa River mouth if Mayor Bob Abbot and council staff get their way.

Noosa council is seeking to have the State Government introduce new marine zones in the most crowded river stretches and where there is often conflict between water users.

Mr Abbot told council he had no truck with cowboy kite surfers who represent a hazard to other vessels crossing Noosa’s notoriously narrow, shallow bar.

The mayor said these wave-jumping wind-chasers who gathered in numbers at the river mouth, did not give a damn about anyone else.

“I was talking to one boat operator who said one (kite surfer) came right at him and then jumped up over him deliberately,” Mr Abbot said.
Council staff said local commercial boat charter operators had lodged complaints about kite surfing there and “kiters” would be able to have their say as part of the public consultation process involved with the proposed zones.

Surfing and wind surfing would also be banned at the mouth because of the navigational risks to motorised craft and freestyle jumping would be banned in all parts of the river."

Hey Noosa dudes! It sounds like you guys need to band together to fight this! The only way to fight government regulation is by self-regulation. You gotta have a local club and set up a kiting code-of-conduct. You have one of the best spots in Australia...don't lose it. With a looming amalgamation of the three Sunshine Coast Councils, this may be the first area of many to be restricted.

Use AKSA's resources and ask for help. That's what AKSA is for. Ignoring the situation won't make it go away.

whatno way,we have to fight this boys an girls.
The river belongs to us as much as the boats,whats there problem!
Seems to me these polys have way to much power and they just want to make Noosa a place for the Hasting st touros and if anything is fun well just ban it. How would they like it if we banned golf on there fav course because a ball might hit someone on the head.
Yeah an as for boat operaters if they cant navigate through a few kiters that get out of there way when they/we see them coming they had better not attempt a bar crossing!! I mean come on!Talk about over reacting.What ever happened to sharing the river?,its not like we use it every day.
ps I am a boat owner an have no problems or hazards with kites, I wounder if Bob owns a boat an really knows what a hazard is or is he another arm chair warrior or side line cynic.

souds like the locall kiters will be fighting the cashed up southern
set, "Noosa" , Melbourne's most northern suburb.

I kite in noosa occasionally and boat there also.

I must admit I have had the occasional kiter try some crazy **** really close to me when in a boat.

I am amazed that the complaints are not coming from the beach (probably because most of the people are tourists) as that is where I see the dangerous stuff occurring.

big wave dave is right. self regulation is the key here guys. surely one of the local kiters must know someone on the council as it is not a big shire?

i'm with charl dv on this...


if you don't show that you are being pro-active and prepared to self regulate, and sort out the obvious few with foolish behaviour that kite there...you'll all be finding somewhere else to kite!


common sense at all times when others, especially boaties and beach goers are involved

quote:

---

Originally posted by Keahi

Whats really annoying is that most people do the right thing and stay away from people and boats. But then the occaisional dickhead does something stupid and its in the process of being banned. It sucks that one or two people might ruin it for the rest of us

---

Legislation to the lowest common denominator. It's the Australian way unfortunately

Noosa guys - form a club if you don't already have one. Council prefer to speak with a responcible organised group. It's too easy to ban something if there is no one to negotiate with. We have formed a club on Botany Bay purely for this reason. If you can show council that you can self regulate the kooks and irresponsible blow-ins you're half way there.

An informal club is only a start. You have to inform the local authorities that you exist and that you are promoting self-regulation in your area.

At Caloundra we publish a newsletter every two months and include a column with comments from the council. We liaise with local lifeguards and conduct training nights for lifesavers.

We also maintain a close communication with our local councillor so that any complaints or comments are relayed to us directly. We can then identify any "cowboy' kiters who breach the regulations and encourage them to cooperate.

Last month our local council thanked all local kiters for keeping away from swimming reserves over the summer period.

Most Caloundra kiters know that regulation is looming so we try our best to avoid incidents with boats, surfers and other beach users.

One other piece of advice: Keep commercial biases out of the club environment. By nature we all align ourselves to different brands and shops and this can cause some people to avoid your club. Keep it all about kitesurfing and friendship. Its working here at Caloundra!!

the owner of the 'Boathouse' restaurant is willing to accommodate any kind of meeting we may have with Mr Abbot, maybe have a chin wag with him in a casual atmosphere on the 'floata' before things go to far in some council chambers meeting,Bob's comments in the paper appears that 'someone' is really pissed with the rivermouth kiter's,maybe we can kool the coals a little over lunch with him cause he does enjoy a feed between meetings!

This is the typical crap that pollies present when confronted with a whinger...unfortunately it gets lapped up by press and soon out of control.
I was once involved with running a long standing Brissie sailing club on the river and always had run-ins with Council, GPS rowing, ferries, and commercial boating....my suggestion is form a club... then apply to the Qld Dept of Transport as a club for a permit(there is a form) to hold organised events(in this case, kite sessions) at the river mouth and try to nominate by date or weather condition when these events will be held (every weekend or any time the wind is above 12knts on an ebb tide). The Transport Dept holds the key to the argument....as marine boating and safety rules apply. You can't restrict a vessel in a confined channel... no right of way to sail(kiters)applies. The only draw back is Qld Transport will probaly seek an opinion from Noosa Council, Water Police , Coast Guard and other "offical" interested parties before committing to a permit and you might end up with a no answer( note: not a ban just a no to organised event but the wheels will be in motion)...the paper trail will show the local shire and it's residents that as a group you want to do the right thing the right way. You might remember not so long ago "I FISH AND I VOTE!" and yep, I would also complain about the use of the term "Marine Thrillseekers"...not kiters - nope! anyone crossing that bar in more than 15knts....YEP!

on the front page of the noosa news the other week was a full article on keahi winning caloundra nationals and all other successes, one of our reasons could be that noosa will be taking away one of noosas most sucessful sportsmans training area away......could work. i rekon that every club on the sunny coast (even the more informal ones) should write in a letter to coucil about this, even though most of you dont really kite there most of you have had a session or two here. when another area gets a threat we can do the same.

If we beat this thing I'll do more than shout beer's.good call Dustin,we know that Sunny Coast has top class kiter's including yourself,we just have to sell that and many more positive's to the Noosa Kremlin

hey ran whats up. When are you gonnna come back to noosa. Have you had any more kites in melb lately

Keahi

If I go into local Noosa Council this week I need to know that we will be representing ourselves as a 'formal club' approaching this whole thing with tact and dignity....if that fails guess I will have to chain myself nude to the entry gates of council, flying a trainer kite from my ass with a sign swinging from my dick reading,"kiter's demand respect" ......I'm goin to the beach with my family,will be back tonight...Rooooooey

Yea Carver,I can appreciate what you say I am sure that most would be more than happy to be affiliated with a great crew such as the Caloundra mob,learning from the experience's the seasoned club's have is the go,I certainly don't want to create complications or divide's between any of the affilliated group's on the coast,on the contrary,being sub-branch's ,in my view would be the simplest way out,because as much as that Sunny coast kiter's,are very competant in the water,we dont have the club experience that you guy's have and we need help to format the whole deal,plus there are a lot of young people that need to have leader's to give them something to back,also sponsered kiter's could still be in there local club of choice like surfer's are without the bias and reteric that seem's to be going on at present

Caloundra club is not affiliated or attached to AKSA ...yet. There's a lot of work until that happens. Talk to Paulio and the crew at SEQKA....presidents, secretary, treasurer etc. It takes a lot of effort and dedication. We will get there one day but at the moment it's little steps!!

I reckon you should host a bbq and invite all local kiters, commercial boaties and the local councillor whose area includes the rivermouth. Start a friendly dialogue first and be willing to give a little. Develop a local code of conduct and include the council in any communications. Use AKSA's resources when you need to. That's what AKSA is for.

If you guys want a copy of our newsletter to use as a template or any other help just ask! Noosa rivermouth is too good to lose (except for the damn stingrays!)

Good luck guys!!