From AdelaideNow
www.adelaidenow.com.au/nocookies?a=A.flavipes

DANIEL WILLS, JOANNA VAUGHAN

December 03, 2008 12:01am

BEACHGOERS are being threatened with a $200 fine for "harnessing the wind" without council permission.

Signs have sprung up at local beaches this week warning that using the wind for kite surfing and other unspecified activities is prohibited without a permit.

Port Adelaide Enfield environmental health manager Ian Hawkins said kite surfers were a danger to swimmers and others on the beach.

"The council had a couple of incidents involving kite surfers and one quite serious incident where a kite surfer ended up tangled with someone on the beach," he said.

Mr Hawkins said there was no plan to repeat Holdfast Bay council's ban on some hand-held kites.

"The permit doesn't mean that people can't do it, they just do it with the necessary safety precautions and knowledge," he said.

A new Port Adelaide Enfield by-law banning kites "used for the purpose of pulling or carrying a person" comes into force on December 21. Permits are only available through membership of the South Australian Kite Surfing Association at an annual cost of $65.

Mr Hawkins said the law was "just vague enough" for the council to crack down on new kite sports that may be invented in the future.

But some people have complained that ambiguity opens the door to abuses of power.

In September, acting Ombudsman Ken MacPherson told a parliamentary committee some councils were maliciously issuing expiation notices for animal, traffic and other infringements.

West Lakes Kite Shop owner Phil McConnachie is a key organiser of the annual Adelaide International Kite Festival, run in conjunction with Port Adelaide Enfield Council.

He claims he has been "targeted" by officials and told to cease kite surfing even before the new laws have come into force.

"They're basically trying to restrict the hell out of it as best they can," he said. "We are courteous to the other beachgoers and give way to everyone."

Charles Sturt Council is also understood to be considering restrictions. Bans already apply in areas of Holdfast Bay.

The only change taking place in port Adelaide Enfield Council is the council now have a by law to fine you if you are kiting in a restrcted area and do not have a SAKSA Membership.
It would benefit all kite surfers to take up SAKSA Membership to ensure they comply with the new regulations.
While this is only my opinion at least it will ensure that anyboby who wishes to undertake kite surfing are made aware of their responsibilies and heaven forbid if they are involved in an accident they are covered under the SAKSA Public Liability.
Having all kite boarders united through SAKSA allows for greater representation in any future bylaws that may be passed in the near future. To all the kiteboarders out there you are going to have to unite as one body in an effort to have free access to our beaches. It makes sense that SAKSA is and will continue to be the voice of Kiter's throughout Australia

WHATS NEXT A PERMIT TO BREATH A PERMIT TO SUNBAKE OR A PERMIT TO HAVE FUN

My concern with this is:

1. It is a solution that does not "scale" well, how are travellers/visitors/tourists going to know about this?
2. Swimming is not considered banned every time someone drowns. Some would say that kitesurfers are a danger to others as well as themselves so its not the same. Yet I am sure people have drowned trying to save others from drowning.

In short this is discriminatory against a group of law abiding citizens that pay their council taxes just like the others.

Eric

who are you talking to jordy?

Jordy,

I am happy to pay the 65aud thingy, no worries. In Sept. I went to Cairns for a week, should I be paying an annual fee for that too? I dont think so. I will be going to Adelaide for xmas, and Im not keen on paying an annnual fee for one weeks worth of kitesurfing. I hope you can appreciate my point.

Having said this I am all for every kitesurfer to join an official org. , and I really mean it. Many a time have I seen a guy with second hand gear, no training trying to go kitesurfing probably thinking ; it looks easy.

I got myself in a situation not long ago on Brighton beach where i tried to help one of those guys: his kite dropped, he couldnt relaunch, he drifted towards the beach which was packed,
I went over to get his kite. set him up to launch it and he couldnt even do that. my mistake, I should have put the **** down.

Point being if everyone has to sign up for an org. maybe we can drill a bit of security in them.

My guess is that those who buy second hand, dont take lessons, wont be interested in paying any money for kitesurfing.. the 65aud wont be payed.

I am hoping to move back to SA next year and wil be paying my due before xmas.

cheer,
Eric

PS: on a personal note: if you want to make your point come across on the forums, dont get personal. it does not make you look good.

It all comes under the banner of AKSA- SAKSA, WAKSA, KBV, TKSA, SEQKA and NSWKBA. By being a member of the affiliated state association you are permitted to ride here.

The article does not mention that there are plenty of good metro beaches that require no permit- the spots that do there is a specific reason why, it also fails to mention that those signs have been up at Pt Adel for ages- the only thing that has changed is they now have a bylaw to fine you for not complying...

If you take that arguement, then do you agree with drink driving? You have to target a whole lot just to catch a few idiots who make the whole road unsafe for the rest of us. The majority of people do the right thing but there are just a few who feel the need to put the rest of us in danger.

Same thing for the water and kiting.

Next comment?

That's right, it doesn't deter idiots, however with the laws etc that are in place it helps to make people think twice before doing the wrong thing. If there is going to be an idiot on the beach it is better to have an insured risk rather than an un-insured risk. Would you drive your car on the road without insurance? Maybe, but if you do you take the chance of not being covered if you do have the unexpected happen. Better to be safe then sorry huh?

There is no 'them' and 'us' mentality. SAKSA work hard to align themselves with the coucils so that doesn't happen. It's best everyone gets along and works together to ensure the safety and integrity of the sport is upheld.

I'm stil not sure what point you're trying to make here. It doesn't matter what you put into place, you'll still have someone who does the wrong thing but are you saying that the laws in place are a waste of time and we shouldn't have them? Are you saying that we should take away all laws and just expect people to do the right thing?

I'm a bit confused.

That's true, but I giuess at the end of the day if we are kiting in a permit zone there shouldn''t be any non members there anyway.

Metalmongrel, you have no arguement from me that Australia is over regulated, many examples come to mind. And there is no doubt that we could discuss this until the cows come home. But this is the society we live in, and Australia is a bloody top place.

But we all have to adapt to the enviroment we live in. Councils, government, businesses have to adapt to this enviroment and also when the enviroment changes. We live in a litigated society in which all of the above and myself are rather nervious when it comes to dealing with lawyers. With a lot of no win, no charge law firms now appearing, it is understandable why the above are going to be overly careful, for fear of being sued.

Kitesurfers are the change to the enviroment, we are the new sport upsetting the masses. Before that, skateboarders, rollerbladers, scooters, mountain bikes, stunt kites and the list goes on. All of the above have had bans applied to them, you just have to look outside any shopping centre to see the signs. Go into any national park and see the signs banning mountain biking in the area. So to think that kitesurfing is going to be treated any different, i don't think so.

So this means we have to adapt, the options are regulations or bans, thats just the way it is. For councils the easy option is to ban, but through negotition and education, regulations can be aggreeded on. But so everyone is happy, we all have to give a little. For us, this means agreeing that we as a collective group will not kite on certain beaches, and for councils, they will let us kite on other beaches, everyone wins.

But for this to happen, we have to show that we are largely a responsible group of people. Through SAKSA we have been able show the councils that we are responsible. By self insuring, do our best to welcome and educate new comers to the sport, running events in which bring the kiting community together. The tighter the community and the more members we get, the more we can be heard when we are communicating with the local governments. There will always the minority that won't comply and want to do their own thing. That is then the compliance officers duty to do what he see's fit in controlling and educating these people. But if to many people break the rules, everyone will suffer with total beach bans. And that is the last thing any of us want.

If you dont want to be involved in SAKSA, that is your choice. There are several kilometers of metro beach that you can ride without breaking any council, state or federal law and not be a member. I ride those areas too, and i if see anyone in trouble i will always go and help, as will most of the other guys , member or not. We have all been helped out at one stage or another. We know that it not a nice feeling bobbing aroung out at sea trying to find your board or relaunch your kite with twisted lines. I'm a big believer in karma

I think the reason we spend so much time on this bloody forum is because we love the sport and want to do it everywhere and all the time. But the reality is we can't do it everywhere and the missus would be majorly pissed if we did it all the time.

Thats it, i got to get out and enjoy the rest of this awesome day, see ya on the water.

Cheers Croc

Uh on the subject of Saksa membership - how long does it take to receive the permit? I sent of my cheque and form nearly 2 weeks ago and have heard nothing back. Am I going to get fined if I kiteboard and am not displaying my permit?
Having just arrived from the UK I find not only am I to fear the Sharks but the permit police too ! In the UK we only have to fear Hypothermia!

Don't you actually see what the council want to do? Dudhit is close to it:

Without a SAKSA (Thats Australia wide) permit they have little choice but to ban it, they just want to offload the responsibility, they have a liability and must do something, SAKSA membership gives them a chance to offload the liabiliy to the membership insurance, they are happy, we are happy, the council can say they have done something lawful and their hands are clean.

GET THIS: without SAKSA you will loose your city beaches, you have already lost Holdfast, GET IT. SAKSA is your only hope, and working together.

Jordy has it right, so what if people don't like the message, there have been recent serious events of injury to the public at Seacliff, it won't take long. And yes there are places where you don't need SAKSA membership, a lot of them are our local spots.

Join SAKSA, kite safe and enjoy our beaches, or stay at home. We want our beaches open. If people don't like it they can get a box of tissues, and make sure the bring them down south, they'll need 'em.