Does anybody have any information on the status of the kite surfing ban in Holdfast Bay? I've heard so many things regarding kite boarding at Seacliff, twice the council ranger has asked me to pack up and move on, some times he drives straight past and doesn’t care, once he said it was o.k. to launch only from the water or from the rocks at Kingston Park. Some body mentioned that in front of the yacht club on Seacliff beach was O.k. to kite board because it was part of Marion city council and there is no ban in that council area.
If the Ban is still enforced in Holdfast Bay is there anybody out there that is currently in disscussion with the council or interested in putting forward a model to the council that will incorperate safety regulations e.g SAKSA I.D tags, public liability insurance e.t.c

Hello Paul,
SAKSA was not informed or consulted in relation to the ban imposed in the Holdfast Bay area so the Association never had the opportunity to argue a different model such as the one being proposed for Port Adelaide Enfield City Council (ie the permit system). I understand that Onboard represented kite surfing in the Holdfast Bay area so the association does not have any knowledge of what discussions actually took place between Council and Onboard.

Refering to the scanned document at www.saksa.netfirms.com/saksa_Bans.htm this is my interpretation of the status of kite surfing in the Holdfast Bay Council.
"Council Land" ends at the low tide mark (note that this point is a bit difficult to determine given the movement of sand, tides etc). This is where Holdfast Bay's jurisdiction ends as far as the setting of by-laws. The by-law currently in place bans the launching and flying of a kite with more than one line on council land. This by-law has actually been in place for a number of years however only now has been enforced in relation to kite surfers. By enforcing this kite flying ban on the beach council hopes to prevent kite surfing from accessing the water. This is the same strategy employed with Jet Skis ie ban jet skis from launching via ramps from the beach and therefore prevent access to the water.

In reality there is no ban of kite surfing in the water in areas which are not designated controlled areas which have a vessel prohibition under the Harbors and Navigation Regulations (1994). These controlled areas are defined under Schedule 4 of the regulations. For the controlled areas in Brighton (areas 1 to 5) as shown on the scanned document the following rules apply:
“1 - A person must not take a vessel into the specified waters or cause or permit a vessel to enter or remain in the specified waters.”
“4 - A person must not ski, aquaplane or be towed in any other manner by a vessel in the specified water”
Note that the controlled areas are 100m out from the low tide mark.
For the Glenelg controlled area the following rules apply:
“3 - A person must not operate a vessel into the specified waters at a speed in excess of 4 knots or in a planning attitude.”
“5 - A person must not ski, aquaplane or be towed in any other manner by a vessel in the specified waters at a speed in excess of 4 knots”
The Glenelg controlled areas are 200m out from the low tide mark.

Note that Council inspectors have a delegation under the legislation to police and enforce Transport SA regulations which include enforcing:
- the PDF rule
- the rules above which apply to controlled zones
- speed limits
- etc

Holdfast Bay council ends at the southern boundary which according to my reading of the map is a line from Way Place out to sea. South of this line is City of Marion so I believe there are no kite flying / launching restrictions in place. I have not been up this part of the coast for some time so don’t know what the suitability of this area is for launching. From memory it’s quiet rocky and possibly quiet dangerous.

What I believe this all means is that there is no law against kite surfing in areas which are not controlled areas as long as you don’t launch or fly a kite on Council land. This means you can kite in the uncontrolled areas on the map out from Holdfast City beaches. The only option for launching the kite appears therefore to water launch the kite within the uncontrolled areas beyond the low tide mark.

If anyone has a different interpretation of the status of kite surfing in Holdfast Bay or has spotted a mistake in the above explanation please post a correction.

Thanks
Robert

I heard that a Holdfast Bay council inspector was patrolling the beaches on Sunday 12th Dec and giving out pamphlets and warnings for these new Council Bylaws. He spoke to all windsurfers in sight.

The noose is a tightening

Cheers Peter Ciesa

I've heard through the grape vine that there have been some negotiations with Holdfast Bay council to allow kite surfing at Kingston Park.
It sounds like officially they are taking a hardline for the purposes of reducing their exposure to financial risk, in the event of legal action, however are taking a more lenient approach to policing the by-law. I'd be surprised if council put anything official out in relation to allowing kite surfing at Kingston Park.

Hey Rat

Gusta is a tight arse and he is still on his old gear. What do you expect from an accountant!!!!!!

Hey Rat

Im not too sure when thats going to happen. Sykes, Susan, Inge and myself are looking to come over for a month in summer. Looking to go from Margrets to Gnarloo. Sing out if your keen to do some of that trip. When ya coming over to Adelaide again?. Also hows the girlfriend that I have never met yet!!!!!!!

P.S

Gusta is a tight arse!!!!