toppleover said...

You need to be able to invert to go out on the water?

Ah yer, thats the one.

Who gets the license, is it a lucky dip or musical chairs for who wins the license. ?

if you want to boogie, stay under the radar.

If someone is in the water helping someone else learn to kite then how are they going to regulate that. The shop that ends up with the licence may have something to say but if a customer walks into a shop OFF the beach and pays for tuition and then goes to the water for the lesson, then i dont see how they can stop this. Will they check every man with a kite to see what there doing. I dont think so. Maby the guys running there business out of the back of a van may have a problem if they have the local park as there shop but the guys that have legitimate shops shouldnt.

Well hopefully the council sees sense and leaves it well alone.

Bigwavedave said...

jas73 said...

If someone is in the water helping someone else learn to kite then how are they going to regulate that. The shop that ends up with the licence may have something to say but if a customer walks into a shop OFF the beach and pays for tuition and then goes to the water for the lesson, then i dont see how they can stop this. Will they check every man with a kite to see what there doing. I dont think so. Maby the guys running there business out of the back of a van may have a problem if they have the local park as there shop but the guys that have legitimate shops shouldnt.

SRC aren't stupid. They know a commercial operation when they see one. There are insurance and liability issues involved also.

The physical numbers of students getting lessons on the sunny coast can't just be done to look like a mate teaching a mate. Especially when half the lesson is done on sand.

SRC haven't consulted anyone about this new policy. It's bad for tourism, competition and ultimately people trying to get into the sport. This affects the livelihood of those who currently operate legally and who will miss out on the tender. It adds extra costs to the businesses who will win the tender and those costs will be passed onto customers.

myusernam said...

fair enough. every man and his dog wants to start a school. only room for a few. I dont care how they restrict commercial enterprise. if you try and make money out of kiting (which there isn't much) and therefore me then you can deal with whatever that entails IMHO. as a consumer I'm not affected so either suck it up or get a real job like the rest of us poor saps in the real world

Wasn't there some sort of "Kerfuffle" in Maroochydore about kiters that didn't know the local rules and kiting in the wrong areas not so long ago, neaqrly killing some kids on the beach.

Instructors pass on good habits to new people learning the sport rather than some mate giving you a few tips on how to launch a kite before you go out and kill yourself and or somebody else.
So the more licensed instructors out there instilling good safe kiting habits the better. My advice to anybody looking at doing kiting is "Get Lesson!".

People get driving lessons so they don't kill themselves or others on the road and a driving instructor is considered a real and responsible job.
I gather you have not really considered your "F**k you Jack I'm Okay!" attitude before bursting into print.
And I gather you would be the first to complain about some "nubee" doing you wrong.

Thankyou to all those who support us, Let me point out that its not just kite schools, they are planning on reducing our SUPS schools from 3 down to 1 and Surf Schools from 4, down to 1. Let me add that their is more than enough business to support these no's.

The best thing you can do is phone or write to councillor Russell Green or Lew Brennan, (find their details on the sc council website) stating your support for Kite Schools. We have a meeting with all concerned next week and if we can present the case with over 100 letters supporting us then we stand a chance.

This is why
"Council decided to reduce impact on public land due to the feedback from the 105 respondants to their surveys conducted over the 3 weeks prior to christmas" thats right, 105 was deemed sufficient to implement a policy for the whole sunshine coast representing nearly 300,000 people.
The surveys were only to be found at library's or the internet, not that anyone even knew about them. Not one of the surveys actually expressed any discontent with the status Quo, around 45 expressed their concern about in increase of use on public land, Kiting was supported by over 35 and came in as the third most favoured business for public land after surfing and boat hire.

No Consultation with Industry or Tourism noosa.


This all leads to one thing, On what did the council base their decision?

Somehow you need to convince council that the operators there now can work -
Good luck
They are usually a bunch of dicks to deal with

Usually the decision is made by a bored bureaucrat who needs something to do at work. These projects stop them falling asleep at their desks while their colleagues are on their RDO's and they have noone to talk to. Sometimes it's the lack of dicks that is the problem!!

Fresh out of Uni they have to make changes to Council policies just for the sake of changes.

QLD State Govt's decision to amalgamate local councils to huge regional councils has only complicated and depersonalised the role of our local elected officials. When it was a small council we could approach the local member with a concern and he gave a sh1t. He even fast tracked permits for competitions.

obviously not happy enough not to burr up the moment someone offers a conflicting point of view.
Its only fair that the established shops in the area have the rights to the local teaching area. They pay rates after all, employ people and contribute to the local economy - even pay tax. the guys that operate out of their vans teaching only when the wind is light and they dont want to kite can peddle their wares elsewhere.

Good comment

Lucky there's not a lot of that happening on Sunny Coast. The big problem is that the council will force the closure of legitimate, professional operators with this new policy.
Not all schools have a shop but still operate legally and on the books.

Surf schools, SUP schools, fitness instructors and more are all affected by this new policy.