Select to expand quoteRichiefish said..
There's usually only two or three people "swimming" there and about twenty or more more kites and windsurfers. Majority rules, ban the swimmers. 
This whole thing stinks. Why do bureaucrats always have to meddle? Can't they just fob off the odd whingers?
Here's another point. Windsurfers tend to launch and go, where as a lot of the kite guys tend to stay close to the beach where the people play in the water.
The maritime regulations say to stay 60 metres from swimmers or reduce speed to six knots. This go slow rule works for windsurfers. I'm not sure about kites though. They can be pretty scary to the average bather even when stationary...
Don't get me wrong I reckon kitesurfing is fantastic. It's just that some of the inexperienced guys can be a danger to themselves and others when in a crowded situation.
Well said Richie, in my submission I outline out "step off line", marked out the distance from shore where we slow right down and get off the board to preserve our fins and stop us from catapulting over the front. (Note, I didn't use Vando's step off line as the norm). This line means we don't sail right up to bathers at speed.
Even after nearly 20years of sailing there, I still expect to discover Harold Holt tied to an engine block when wading around out there
I can't imagine anyone wanting to swim unless as full tide
Select to expand quoteHaircut said..
Even after nearly 20years of sailing there, I still expect to discover Harold Holt tied to an engine block when wading around out there
I can't imagine anyone wanting to swim unless as full tide
Ha ha ha .
Oh Hairy....
Shot of the boys on their way back from Wello after sailing over to buy some hot chips after school
Nice to see school let's them out early to go sailing saw them there around 3, they looked very pleased with themselves. Not 1 swimmer at the high tide.
Select to expand quoteMr Keen said..
Nice to see school let's them out early to go sailing saw them there around 3, they looked very pleased with themselves. Not 1 swimmer at the high tide.
Took some pictures of the warning signs at Wello.
They forgot Bull sharks and Stingrays on sign.
Just made my submission:
"The proposed amendment does not take into account the impact on the windsurfing community which has been using this location since the 1980s. The proposed bathing reserve would effectively make the site unusable for windsurfing purposes, particularly when the wind is from the West (winter) and Northeast (spring and summer). Windsurfing has been practised safely at this site for the last 40 years with no adverse interaction with swimmers. Given the low popularity of the site with swimmers (it being a muddy beach with murky water) this is an unnecessary initiative that stands only to harm a traditional use of the site while providing little additional benefit to members of the wider community."
Select to expand quoteCocky2 said..Mr Keen said..
Nice to see school let's them out early to go sailing saw them there around 3, they looked very pleased with themselves. Not 1 swimmer at the high tide.
Took some pictures of the warning signs at Wello.
They forgot Bull sharks and Stingrays on sign.
Used to sail there in the eighties ( and revisited just recently ) and there were twice as many sailors in those days.
The Council signs already indicate that it is an unsuitable/ dangerous location to swim. Why would they want to establish a bathing reserve.
Local sailors need to establish who instigated this preposterous proposal and their reasoning to assist with your submissions.
Made mine as well. I've noticed some "clarifications" being put up on the council site which seem to indicate a response to submissions, with a map showing the "bathing area" as defined by a narrow rectangle extending (I guess) 400m out from flag placement -- it is still not good, as it still basically blocks off the launch for Waterloo bay in a Northerly or SW, as well as a big chunk of the speed strip on the bank and turning area. And its barely conceivable someone is going to want to swim more than 50 meters out from the beach -- the few swimmers there are a families with little kiddies who hug the beach and have virtually no contact with us or kites save from when we are wading into the water to start or back up to the beach to finish.
Also, does the category "non-motorised aquatic vessels" include things like dinghies from clark rubber and plastic fishing kayaks from BCF? I think it should.
Re the Proposed Bathing Reserve at Wellington Point
The email response below is from Cr Wendy Boglary re the issues and concerns raised by myself and other sailboarders re the Wello Point bathing reserve proposal. The Council has conceded that the original proposal was unclear and needed to be revised. It made it appear we would be restricted from an area 300m x 400m, effectively shutting down wind and kite surfing for part of the year. However, this was not the intention. Basically, all craft, motorised or otherwise will be excluded from a bathing area within the bathing reserve while it is patrolled by a lifeguard. This is similar to bathing areas at surf beaches.
The crucial points of concern remaining are:
1. How wide and long (seaward) will the bathing area extend? I have suggest about 80m along the beach x 30 to 40m seawards, including non-motorised craft being excluded within 10m of the bathing area. I have suggesting leaving room near the western end of the concrete steps to allow rigging up and carrying gear to the water. So the bathing area I suggested is actually 60m along the beach and 30 to 40m seaward. This needs to be negotiated still. This size area I suggested as bathers don't swim far from beach and mostly only bath in mornings (when it is clearer and calm) on high tide with tides greater than 1.8m. Other times there is not enough water depth to swim comfortably and if tide is even less, then it becomes a mud flat and as we all know sharp and muddy underfoot.
2. How much of the year will we be affected by a flagged bathing area and the risk of injuring a bather is higher - The area will only be patrolled by lifeguards on weekends and public holidays - the busier days. I went thru the calendar and tide chart for 2018 and found that there are 166 days to be patrolled. Out of this, tides greater than 1.8m during the day occur for only 96 out of 121 patrolled days, when you exclude May to Aug as the water is too cold. Half of the 96 days are morning high tides (best clearer and calmer for bathers) and the other half are afternoon high tides. As mostly we sail in the afternoons when winds are stronger, and there are few bathers as the water becomes muddy from wave action, there is a very limited busy time when there might be both significant numbers of bathers and sailboards and kite surfers, that might be in conflict and collide with a bather. So the risk is very low. However, we all need to take care and a Code of Conduct for Sailboarders and Kite Surfers has been suggested.
3. How far should we be expected to walk our gear out? - We should not be expected to have to walk our gear out too far to be able to sail around the bathing area. The 100m seaward boundary suggested in the email below is probably too far - particularly with large high tides say greater than 2.3m. And also beginner sailboarders should be able learn and practice closer to shore. Although one option here is for them to go to the east of the sandbar if the tide is high enough.
Google Earth picture shows 80m x 100m to scale including 10m extra around bathing area.
I strongly urge you to put in a submission to Council and raise the points above and any other concerns you have: yoursay.redland.qld.gov.au/proposed-local-law-amendments-for-a-wellington-point-bathing-reserve
Other points to mention are:
1. Sailboarders and kite surfers, kayakers and SUPs all bring revenue to the local shops and hence boost the local economy.People on the beach love watching the sailboards and kite surfers. So it attracts tourists to the area.
2. The Council should encourage these health fun sports.
3. The main danger to bathers is from jet skis and power boats. This should be the focus of any restrictions within the Bathing Reserve area. Solar Trev
**************************************************************************
Cut and past of Email from Cr Wendy Boglary who is supportive - so please no abusive messages to her.
Thank you all for your valuable feedback on the proposed Bathing Reserve at Wellington Point.
I have had a meeting with Council officers today regarding your concerns. Some Points and updates for clarification following the meeting:-
The Bathing Reserve is the area in which a Bathing Area can be set by the use of flags.
Restrictions are only within the Bathing area, not the entire bathing Reserve.
Restrictions also are only enforced when the flags are erected defining the Bathing Area.
Though Model Local Law No 6 (Bathing Reserves) 2010 under the State Gov. has the outer seaward boundary of a bathing area being limited to 200 m from the flags, however due to Redlands coastal areas especially on NSI the Redland City Council Local law has 400m. This is one point of concern.
The width of the Bathing Area is also a point of concern.
After today's discussion and the officers reading your emails and submissions it was discussed that :-
1. The Local Law will go to Council to be amended so the Bathing Area need not be 400m in all Redlands areas. Though no distance sea ward was decided today as talks need to be held with SLSQ, 100m was suggested at this initial talk but will require further investigations so the length at present is not defined but has been acknowledged needs to be changed. The width of the Bathing Area was also discussed and officers will meet with SLSQ as to what would be a manageable and suitable width.
The intent being to ensure there is sufficient access for non-motorised water craft to have some access to the beach and naturally the sand bar. This gives the Bathing Area a 10m boundary from all craft and gives non-motorised water craft a 50m from the powered. There was never an intent to minimise the variety of users at the Reserve, just to ensure safety between swimmers and crafts, especially powered craft. Your feedback has been extremely valuable in this process which is why community consultation should always be included. First stage is to have the Bathing Reserve declared and then Stage 2 to have the area of Bathing Area defined. It was also discussed that the surf livers on duty need to place buoys on the seaward boundary so there is a clear area for all users to understand. Once the final proposal is decided it will again go to community consultation for feedback.
Select to expand quoteSolar Trev said..
Re the Proposed Bathing Reserve at Wellington Point
The email response below is from Cr Wendy Boglary re the issues and concerns raised by myself and other sailboarders re the Wello Point bathing reserve proposal. The Council has conceded that the original proposal was unclear and needed to be revised. It made it appear we would be restricted from an area 300m x 400m, effectively shutting down wind and kite surfing for part of the year. However, this was not the intention. Basically, all craft, motorised or otherwise will be excluded from a bathing area within the bathing reserve while it is patrolled by a lifeguard. This is similar to bathing areas at surf beaches.
The crucial points of concern remaining are:
1. How wide and long (seaward) will the bathing area extend? I have suggest about 80m along the beach x 30 to 40m seawards, including non-motorised craft being excluded within 10m of the bathing area. I have suggesting leaving room near the western end of the concrete steps to allow rigging up and carrying gear to the water. So the bathing area I suggested is actually 60m along the beach and 30 to 40m seaward. This needs to be negotiated still. This size area I suggested as bathers don't swim far from beach and mostly only bath in mornings (when it is clearer and calm) on high tide with tides greater than 1.8m. Other times there is not enough water depth to swim comfortably and if tide is even less, then it becomes a mud flat and as we all know sharp and muddy underfoot.
2. How much of the year will we be affected by a flagged bathing area and the risk of injuring a bather is higher - The area will only be patrolled by lifeguards on weekends and public holidays - the busier days. I went thru the calendar and tide chart for 2018 and found that there are 166 days to be patrolled. Out of this, tides greater than 1.8m during the day occur for only 96 out of 121 patrolled days, when you exclude May to Aug as the water is too cold. Half of the 96 days are morning high tides (best clearer and calmer for bathers) and the other half are afternoon high tides. As mostly we sail in the afternoons when winds are stronger, and there are few bathers as the water becomes muddy from wave action, there is a very limited busy time when there might be both significant numbers of bathers and sailboards and kite surfers, that might be in conflict and collide with a bather. So the risk is very low. However, we all need to take care and a Code of Conduct for Sailboarders and Kite Surfers has been suggested.
3. How far should we be expected to walk our gear out? - We should not be expected to have to walk our gear out too far to be able to sail around the bathing area. The 100m seaward boundary suggested in the email below is probably too far - particularly with large high tides say greater than 2.3m. And also beginner sailboarders should be able learn and practice closer to shore. Although one option here is for them to go to the east of the sandbar if the tide is high enough.
Google Earth picture shows 80m x 100m to scale including 10m extra around bathing area.
I strongly urge you to put in a submission to Council and raise the points above and any other concerns you have: yoursay.redland.qld.gov.au/proposed-local-law-amendments-for-a-wellington-point-bathing-reserve
Other points to mention are:
1. Sailboarders and kite surfers, kayakers and SUPs all bring revenue to the local shops and hence boost the local economy.People on the beach love watching the sailboards and kite surfers. So it attracts tourists to the area.
2. The Council should encourage these health fun sports.
3. The main danger to bathers is from jet skis and power boats. This should be the focus of any restrictions within the Bathing Reserve area. Solar Trev
**************************************************************************
Cut and past of Email from Cr Wendy Boglary who is supportive - so please no abusive messages to her.
Thank you all for your valuable feedback on the proposed Bathing Reserve at Wellington Point.
I have had a meeting with Council officers today regarding your concerns. Some Points and updates for clarification following the meeting:-
The Bathing Reserve is the area in which a Bathing Area can be set by the use of flags.
Restrictions are only within the Bathing area, not the entire bathing Reserve.
Restrictions also are only enforced when the flags are erected defining the Bathing Area.
Though Model Local Law No 6 (Bathing Reserves) 2010 under the State Gov. has the outer seaward boundary of a bathing area being limited to 200 m from the flags, however due to Redlands coastal areas especially on NSI the Redland City Council Local law has 400m. This is one point of concern.
The width of the Bathing Area is also a point of concern.
After today's discussion and the officers reading your emails and submissions it was discussed that :-
1. The Local Law will go to Council to be amended so the Bathing Area need not be 400m in all Redlands areas. Though no distance sea ward was decided today as talks need to be held with SLSQ, 100m was suggested at this initial talk but will require further investigations so the length at present is not defined but has been acknowledged needs to be changed. The width of the Bathing Area was also discussed and officers will meet with SLSQ as to what would be a manageable and suitable width.
The intent being to ensure there is sufficient access for non-motorised water craft to have some access to the beach and naturally the sand bar. This gives the Bathing Area a 10m boundary from all craft and gives non-motorised water craft a 50m from the powered. There was never an intent to minimise the variety of users at the Reserve, just to ensure safety between swimmers and crafts, especially powered craft. Your feedback has been extremely valuable in this process which is why community consultation should always be included. First stage is to have the Bathing Reserve declared and then Stage 2 to have the area of Bathing Area defined. It was also discussed that the surf livers on duty need to place buoys on the seaward boundary so there is a clear area for all users to understand. Once the final proposal is decided it will again go to community consultation for feedback.
Nice work Trev
