A Wa Council That Listens To Its Dog Owners...

[~JoLu~]

Kitesurfers banned to make way for dogs

BEATRICE THOMAS, The West Australian

February 18, 2010, 5:47 am

Kite surfers will be confined to two beach zones and excluded from swimming areas to make way for an extended dog beach under a proposal covering 17km of coast from Marmion to Burns Beach.

Designed to address longstanding issues over conflicting recreational activities at popular beaches such as Hillarys, Sorrento and Mullaloo, the City of Joondalup draft beach management plan would also ban horses and proposes a 50m buffer between some beach activities.

Under the wide-ranging plan, two kite surfing launching and landing zones would be established along a 345m stretch of coast at North Mullaloo and 355m around Pinnaroo Point. In turn, kite surfing would be banned 475m north and south and 250m west of the Mullaloo Surf Life Saving Club and 470m north, 480m south and 250m west of the Sorrento Surf Life Saving Club to protect swimmers.

The city has flagged three options for extending the 650m Hillarys dog beach by between 160m and 1.16km - in all cases abolishing the horse beach exercise area.

Jet skiers would be banned within 200m of the low water mark along the city's coastline and from the designated waterskiing area, which runs from Whitfords to Ocean Reef.

Kite surfers and surf lifesaving clubs have welcomed the kite surfing zones but horse owners and trainers have criticised the plan.

Joondalup mayor Troy Pickard said yesterday that the system was not about excluding people and penalties but gave priority to users of designated activities.

He said the horse exercise area was no longer appropriate in an urban setting.

Mr Pickard said owners of 21,000 registered dogs were calling for a bigger dog beach.

WA Racehorse Owners Association executive officer Darren McAullay said abolishing the horse exercise area would be disappointing and WA Trainers Association president Bruce Hyde said there were still enough horses to justify keeping the horse beach open.

Australian Kiteboarding School owner Darren Marshall, who operates from Pinnaroo Point, said he was happy with the proposal.

The plan was endorsed by the council on Tuesday and will be open for public comment for six weeks.

[~tj~]

HOORAY!

I was JUST last weekend complaining to my DH that the length of the beach was too short for the amount of people that use the Hillarys dog beach - you look all the way up the beach where you are not allowed to have your dogs and there is not a soul in sight, whereas you can barely move on the dog beach

[pie]

That's good..... unless you want to take a horse to Hillarys! I imagine the horse people will be annoyed.

[~JoLu~]

That's good..... unless you want to take a horse to Hillarys! I imagine the horse people will be annoyed.

I guess there are alot less horse owners than dog owners who are rate payers (ie. voters)

[SparkyTansy]

i suppose the difference is there are a lot that will travel with horses to a good horse beach but they cant count those numbers like they can registered dog owners in the area... in saying that i guess there are people that will travel to Hillarys dog beach also?

[pie]

That's good..... unless you want to take a horse to Hillarys! I imagine the horse people will be annoyed.

I guess there are alot less horse owners than dog owners who are rate payers (ie. voters)

Yep that's true, I imagine most of the horses would travel to go to Hillarys and live in another shire / council area.

[mirawee]

At present there are 3 horse beaches in Perth and about 9 or so dog beaches. If this goes ahead the number of horse beaches is down to 2 and both are SOR.

So yeah, it is great that the council listens to dog owners but it is a big shame that dog owners seem to be a selfish bunch who don't care that it inconveniences other people

Admittedly I haven't been to Hillarys in years after having too many dogs have a go at our horses (owners don't seem to think the "dogs on lead only" signs apply to them). But I know plenty of people who do go.

Edited February 18, 2010 by mirawee

[mongo1]

I am a dog owner and a horse owner and I do take both my horse and my dog to the beach so I understand the issues and frustrations for dog owners, with limited parking and congestion on busy days. However I will have to travel over an hour and a half if this beach is removed to take my horse to the beach, whilst the horse beach is only 50m I would love to be able to continue taking my horse there.

I would also like to see the beach extended for dog owners further south and more space made available in the car park, it may seem strange but if you would also like to see the horses stay at the horse beach, we have set up a petition to take to Mr Pickard to try to persuade him to rethink the current Draft Beach Management Plan.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-whitfords-horse-beach

[Dogsfevr]

i dont see it as a hooray that another type of animal lover should lose there enjoyment too.

I hear someone bitching & supporting the dog side at training the other night.i asked how often they head up there to be told maybe twice a year .

Thyey are supporting the petition etc etc yet dont utilize the facilities enough to really care

[ozjen]

While having dog beaches is great I don't like that it is at the expense of others loosing their recreational spot. Horse owners and kitesurfers have a right to beach areas as well regardles of wether they are in a minority of not. If we want non dog owners to be considerate of our needs then we have to display the same consideration to their needs. Its not like we don't already have a number of dog beaches to choose from. Yes more would be nice but not if it means another group looses theirs.

[justin19801]

While having dog beaches is great I don't like that it is at the expense of others loosing their recreational spot. Horse owners and kitesurfers have a right to beach areas as well regardles of wether they are in a minority of not. If we want non dog owners to be considerate of our needs then we have to display the same consideration to their needs. Its not like we don't already have a number of dog beaches to choose from. Yes more would be nice but not if it means another group looses theirs.

Agree. Perhaps dog and horse groups could come up with a joint submission amenable to both.

[mongo1]

While having dog beaches is great I don't like that it is at the expense of others loosing their recreational spot. Horse owners and kitesurfers have a right to beach areas as well regardles of wether they are in a minority of not. If we want non dog owners to be considerate of our needs then we have to display the same consideration to their needs. Its not like we don't already have a number of dog beaches to choose from. Yes more would be nice but not if it means another group looses theirs.

Agree. Perhaps dog and horse groups could come up with a joint submission amenable to both.

I agree, the biggest problem at the moment is the survey submitted provides only one option for horse owners and that is to keep the status quo, no extra beach for dog owners, so why would anyone support keeping it as it is as we know there is a problem. I've been in touch with the city of Joondalup to ask what research has been done into understanding the horse owners that use the beach, however I don't believe anything has been done.

If you would like to help please fill out the petition that I put in this thread above and fill out the survey, in support of horses at the beach. I like to take my horse to the beach becuase it often gives people who may have never to to see or touch a horse before the opportunity to come up to us and meet us, the number of kids that have asked if they could pat my horse at the beach is awesome, it's a great feeling to be able to make a kids day.

[tunagirll]

I too, think that the dog beach needs to be extended.

However I don't think it's right that it should be at the expense of the horse beach! All 4 options provided by council remove 160m that is the horse beach, despite being able to add around 400m by extending the dog beach south rather than north.

The Mayor has elected not to inform dog owners that their plans will remove the horse beach. They only want to save money by taking the horse beach parking and converting it to dog beach parking, rather than making another parking lot.

As a horse owner I can tell you it sucks to add 3 hours to a return trip just so your can enjoy a stroll on the sand riding your horse.

The last rally was last Sunday with 50 people attending and horses. The Mayor did not attend, but did elect to send a rather smirky email to the rally organiser that he was pleased with the low numbers. Of course he failed to realise that there is only so much parking for horse floats so numbers there will be limited at one time We're not going to take over the dog beach car park for a rally nor park on the side of the road and unload horses, that would be selfish and wrong.

Apparently there are also no registered horse owners in the city of joondalup, vs 21000 registered dog owners. That there is actually no registration system for horse owners is apparently beside the point

Most horse owners (including myself) don't mind sharing the horse beach with dogs on leashes (for their own safety). Most live in the area and keep their horses in agistment outside in more horsey areas, but we all use the horse beach.

Now we only have 5 weeks to object... :cry: And then the beach may be taken from us forever.