Mike Burrell at Noosa Kiteboarding had this too say:

"Ok, so heres the latest. The Noosa Council have decided that in exchange for being allowed to kite in the passage we will be banned from the frying pan(area inside the mouth), due to the disturbance of the birds. Now for those of you who dont know, that is the perfect flat water, clean wind, shallow, boat free, perfect for learning and absolutly safest spot to kite. I have been teaching their during the short season of ne and not once saw the birds which were generally hanging out several 100 m away on an exposed bit of sand take flight due to kiters in the area, the kids chasing them and what I presume to be feral cats, dogs or other natural predators that i could not see caused them to lift off every now and then, sometimes, rarely, you get my point.

The council are expecting kiters to self regulate but have been told that the kite community will not be supporting this ban in any way.

Once again all kiters, especially the newbies who really benefit from this area are asked to write in submissions expressing their opposition to this ban, and importantly ask for the evidence of our impact of the birds to be released to the public!! Please do so in a non aggressive way and express your concern for the birds but in a sensible way.

All sunshine coast kiters beware as the lady who drafted the report about the birds and kiting impact has just been requested by the caloundra council to asses their kiting areas, Maroochy council seek to ban kiting in their rivermouth and soon they will all be one.

Now is the time to fight and fight hard for kiting on sunshine coast, and dont be complacent as this is just the very tip of whats occuring behind scenes.

I will provide further details and info in a few days after we have collected some facts.

Mike Burrell"

www.noosa.qld.gov.au/