Old thread was too old www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/Western-Australia/Proposed-safety-bay-dredging/
WWA received notification this week that Rockingham Council has received approval from Dept of Environment to go ahead with the dredging of the new SE channel at Safety Bay.
The council has invited WWA and WAKSA to participate in the final planning process with a preliminary meeting to go ahead next week.
www.inmycommunity.com.au/
Nice to hear WWA and WAKSA will be involved in the planning process. I hope they listen to what you have to say!
and dredging will begin in May which is the non windy season...
Bit of a discrace that some absolute muppet on the council isnt willing to drive around to the longpoint side of the bay to launch his boat... If they do it during the summer windsurfing kitesurfing season its going to be a major hazzard.
Cutting a channel will allow boat access - otherwise the Bent St boat ramp is unusable and I would believe everyone loses - windsurfers as well.
As most power boats are tucked up at home before windsurfers get out on the water - I would assume both can get along just fine - and facilities will be better if they are multiuse.
Rockingham Council probably have a bigger problem with stopping the eastward migration if the sandbar/spit that used to be call Tern Island. Although this spit has slowed its eastward migration in the last few years it is still slowly moving east.
At its current position - it seems (from my perspective) that all water users benefit. Boaters can get out on the water in the am. Kitesurfers can launch off the spit/island and windsurfer have the water closer to shore.
Safety Bay Windsurfing Club and WWA met with the Marine Infrastructure committee of Rockingham Council, this week, over the channel dredging.
Unfortunately WAKSA did not attend.
WWA presented a GPS track to show the path that windsurfers take when using the pond and the bar.
The SE channel is the one going ahead (Coast option was too close to swimmers and the existing channel too close to the Conservation area of Tern Island) and the committee was open to trying to minimise the impact of channel markers.
Unfortunately the DOT rep (DOT actually places the markers) was unable to attend.
However Council has agreed to include SBWC / WWA in the planning going forward.
That's almost the worst possible location isn't it?
We'll have to dodge boats and channel markers as well as kiters.
And the way Tern Island is moving SE each year it will soon be useless again.
), the way that place has gotten shallower over the past two years im sure it'll fill in completely in the near future, and the ramp'll just lead to sand.
