The Hayling Campaign

[Phil Elborough]

Hayling Island - Access Battle - The Full Story

The Hayling Kitesurfing Association
The following is a report on the events on Hayling in relation to the proposed bylaw to ban kitesurfing.

Author: Phil Elborough:

Kitesurfer since 1999, founder of the HKA, kitesurf instructor since 2000, owner of Zero Gravity Kitesurfing

Early in 2001 we first heard the rumour that the local council were talking about banning kitesurfing on Hayling, the rumours first came from windsurfers who at this early stage I believe saw us as a threat. I think mainly because in the early eighties their sport had undergone a similar threat, so they were worried that the threat to their sport would return. I'm pleased to say that now the two sports co-exist with very little problems.

One of the first things I did was to set up the HKA in the form of a web site; this was to prove very useful later in the campaign. The web site was a very useful tool for getting information to the kitesurfers who use the beach; I was able to collect peoples email addresses so that I could call on them when they were needed.

I organised a meeting in a local pub with all the local kitesurfers so that I could get some ideas of how everyone thought we should mount the campaign.

Vested interest
A note on vested interest and my views.
As the owner of a kitesurfing shop and manager of the kitesurfing school I found myself under attack at certain stages of the campaign from people who believed I was only in this for the money. Vested interest is a double-edged sword as yes I am protecting my livelihood but at the same time I am first and foremost a kitesurfer who wants to ride at my local beach. As someone who makes a living from the sport I am on site 24/7 and from my experience am the person with the time and the biggest incentive to get the campaigning done. There is a core of local and some not so local kitesurfers who have been extremely helpful especially at the eleventh hour, but as a rule they all have jobs to go to and as the people you are campaigning against are local council officials who work 9 to 5 it can be difficult for them to attend meetings and make phone calls at the right time.
So if you are setting up a campaign get your local shop of school involved but watch out for competition between local shops as this can get in the way and be very destructive.
The best combination is a local shop or school backed up by an association or club so that the riders can have a say in how the campaign and beach is run.

After approaching the local beachlands manager I received an invite to attend the Beachlands Management Board meeting on Thursday January the 24th 02 to discuss the council strategy for Beachlands.
This was a meeting that is held annually to set out the council's plans for running the beach area, it is likely that similar meetings will take place for beaches throughout the country.


24/01/02
My report on the meeting
___________________________________________________________________
I went to the council meeting today and although it covered a large range of topics to do with the running of every aspect of Beachlands, kitesurfing was discussed in reasonable depth.

There is a great deal of concern over the possible dangers, especially with beginners. It was good to put across the kitesurfers viewpoint and to explain how after the 2001 season, the general standard is much higher so that there are more experienced sailors on the beach to help out the learners (which I know you will all do).

I was told that the Golf Club had the most concerns, as they own the bit of beach we all use, but I had a very good conversation with them and I think they appreciated putting a face to a kitesurfer.

They were interested to know how it all worked and how we could sheet out the power to make the kite safer when on the beach. The message from them was to keep off the sand dunes at the back of the beach, if your kite goes over their fence don't climb it, go round and ask if you can get your kite back ( fly your kite with an effective safety system and don't lose it).

There was some feedback that some members of the public had received aggressive responses from kitesurfers, this was not substantiated but just remember we have to share the beach with everyone so be polite what ever they do, after all at the moment we are the ones on trial so we must be on our best behaviour.

I am hoping that we will end up with a launch/land area somewhere past the large post in the middle of the beach. I think it would help if we all started using this area now as it would good to test the idea out before the summer and it would give the windsurfers more room.

There is a perception that we have pushed the windsurfers further down the beach, whether or not this is the case, it would help our cause if we could give them more room ( most of us were windsurfers too).

I think that is most of what was covered. It was a good meeting and the general objective was to work out a way forward. There is another meeting to be held one Feb the 27th to discuss just kitesurfing, that's my birthday so lets hope its a good day for me and kitesurfing on Hayling. I'll keep you posted if anything else happens before the 27th.
_____________________________________________________________________

At this point I discovered that as well as the local council we had to deal with the Golf Club who actually owned the beach we use.

This is where you will enter into the arguments about no one owning the land below the mean low water mark. Don't go down this road because when we are launching and landing on the beach we are most likely to cause an injury to a member of the public.
It is very important to get invited to these meetings so that they can put a face to you and it is much harder for them to be negative to your face.

Monday 25th February 2:00pm
Meeting of the Beachlands Management Board
___________________________________________________________________
Purpose of meeting: To discuss kitesurfing on Hayling and how it can be made safe during the summer.

The meeting started with a short introduction by the Beachlands Manager Dave Archer Presentation by Andy Biggs of Andy Biggs Windsurfing and West Beach Watersports.

Points Andy raised: Boardsailing had similar fears when it was introduced 24 years ago. With many tens of thousands of launches later at West Beach, these fears were unfounded. We believe we must have tighter control over kitedurfing and with the following points we feel that we can match boardsailing and have a safe, but exciting, sport for all.

Whether it's participating or watching at West Beach. The west end of Beachlands, adjacent to the Hayling Island Golf club, is the ideal venue for kitesurfing, because of the natural sand bar giving a safe lagoon at half to low tide. This naturally limits other watercraft in this area.
Kitesurfing rules

1.All kitesurfers to sign in at West Beach Watersports Proof of minimum third party insurance cover All kitesurfers do so at their own risk disclaimer No insurance No kitesurfing Insurance cover available through West Beach Watersports

2.Once signed in, all kitesurfers will be assigned a number and a bib to wear at all times while on the water. There will be a limited number of bibs available, to keep the numbers of kitesurfers within a safe limit.

3.Kite setting up, launching and recovery area to be marked off and signed to advise other beach users of kitesurfing activity. Kite area west of sea defence groynes, see map. West Beach Watersports Kitesurfing instructor operating from this area to help police launching and recovery.

4.Kitesurfing to be restricted at peak beach use periods, where necessary. The "Red flag no fly" rule to be brought in and marshalled by West Beach Watersports staff. West Beach Watersports are prepared to put staff time and their resourced into making sure that Beachlands is a safe place for all to come and use the beach all year round.

[Phil Elborough]

Presentation by Phil Elborough of Zero Gravity Kitesurfing and the Hayling Kitesurfing Association.

Points raised by Phil:

What are the main concerns and how can we deal with them?

Through the summer season there is the possibility that kitesurfers could cause a safety hazard to the general beach users. Why could they cause a problem? All the time a kitesurfer is out on the water they are out of every ones way, the most dangerous time is during landing and launching the kites off the beach. If the kitesurfers are spread out along the beach there is the possibility of a kite crashing down onto other beach users.

Launch and land area

A possible solution would be to have a marked out launch and land area, this would be situated to the west of the groins past the large post in the beach, the post could be used as the default marker but on busier days the area could be moved further west as needed.

Red flag no kitesurfing In extreme cases such as a bank holiday for example we could have a red marker flag which when flown means no Kitesurfing until the flag is removed.

How do we implement these actions? Enforce and impose

Rather than trying to enforce these actions, which means trying to stop people at the entrance to Beachlands, which would take time and resources to do, and unlike windsurfing where the board is clearly visible on top of the car. Kitesurfing equipment can be stored completely in the boot of a car.

The key to successfully implementing a policy is communication of sensible workable ideas. As you will have seen in the minutes to the last meeting a web site has been set up called the Hayling Kitesurfing Association, the purpose of this site is to inform kitesurfers of safety measures in place on Hayling beach. The Association has over 100 members and is growing all the time In order to join the association you are required to supply an email address, this means we can easily and quickly send information direct to the kitesurfers using Hayling beach. To back this up we would produce a handout containing information on the launch and land area and code of practice. This would need to be available at the Beachlands Office, Andy Biggs Windsurfing, Zero Gravity Kitesurfing, Shore Water Sports and any other relevant outlet.

Day to day implementation Kitesurfing representative

In order to make these policies work we require someone to oversee them, someone who understands the need for safety measures and also understands the needs of the kitesurfers. I would like to offer my services for this post as I hope I have made good contacts with the relevant members of the Beachlands office and I am in touch with the kitesurfing community as I am part of it. From the Easter weekend through the summer season I will be either in my shop (across the road from the beachlands office) or on the beach running Kitesurfing lessons. I will be available 24 hours a day to deal with any concerns relating to Kitesurfing as will my business partner Chris Bull. Chris has similar experience to myself in addition he is a qualified lifeguard and has been teaching traction kites and buggying for the last five years, he is a kitesurf instructor and also competes in the national Kitesurfing championships in which he currently ranked 2nd. In addition to this, the cover we offer does not stop in the off-season as we both kitesurf all year round and are on the beach to help other kitesurfers when needed. This offer of help would also come from any member of the HKA thus ensuring there is always someone on the beach who knows the rules.

After the presentations we were split into two groups to discuss the ideas. The result of the discussion in my group brought to light an interesting situation. The reason for the concern over safety of kitesurfing on Hayling is because Beachlands is a Blue Flag Beach, this means that under European rules, any watersport that takes place in a blue flag area must be zoned.

This would be a designated marked off area with buoys in two lines out to sea as a lunching and landing channel. The area of Beachlands that we all kitesurf in, west of the groynes on the sandbar, is owned right down to the low water mark by Hayling Golf Club. Therefore it is the decision of the Golf club whether or not we continue to use their beach.

If the Golf club give us the go ahead then kitesurfing will be banned from West Beach which is the area from the Golf Club fence at the end of the car park going East past the Inn on the Beach to the funfair.

The Secretary of the Golf Club attended the meeting and I have had several positive conversations with him, although he did mention that last year he had received a total of seven kitesurfing related complaints from the public. I must emphasise that everyone must be polite and helpful at all times to other beach users

I will be arranging a meeting with the residents association to try and dispel any worries they might have.

If kitesurfing is given the golf club beach it is then likely that a windsurfing launch and land area under the Blue Flag Beach rules will be set up in the gap between the Inn on the Beach and the beach huts opposite West Beach Watersports.

This does not mean that windsurfers will not be able to use the Golf Club beach, they will just be encouraged to use the designated area.

There will be another meeting on the 20th March at the Civic Centre Havant this will be the make or break one. In the mean time, be aware of how delicate the situation is, be careful If you have any comments you wish to air on this report please drop me an e-mail Thanks Phil Elborough H.K.A administrator

From this meeting two main issues stood out.

The most important thing to find out is who exactly legally ownes the stretch of beach you are kitesurfing on, as in our case it was now clear that although the local council councillors were important the beach we use was owned by the Golf Club a private limited company, the council had no jurisdiction over that part of the beach. However it was important to keep on top of the council as later they were to try and make a pact with the golf club to jointly fund the cost of a bylaw, which would include the Golf Club land.
But for now it was important to maintain and improve the dialog with the Golf Club.

The second issue to arise from the meeting was behind the ceans backbiting that started to interfere and endanger the whole champagne between the two retailers fighting for commercial control of the beach. This can be a big problem, but at the end of the day the parties involved have got to take a step back and see that no one will have a business if the sport is banned.
My strong belief is that although yes I am fighting to maintain the licence to teach on Hayling beach, as an active kitesurfer myself, I will fight for the right for everyone to kitesurf on Hayling who ever they are no matter what affiliations they have, with no restrictions on numbers unless safety is compromised.
There was talk of limiting numbers to 10 or 15 kitesurfers at a time, these sort of ideas are normally suggested by people with no understanding of the sport, decisions like this need to be made by very experienced active kitesurfers who have a good understanding of the sport and the relevant safety and site assessment issues.

I arranged a meeting with the local kitesurfers and windsurfers to report on the council meeting and gather ideas

[Phil Elborough]

March 14th 2002

Meeting of Windsurfers and Kitesurfers at Shades on Hayling 7.00pm

A very positive meeting was held with very good support offered from the Windsurfers that attended. Minutes were taken and as soon as I have them I will publish them here. The main thing that came out of the meeting was that all water users were willing to join together in order to maintain the free access we all enjoy to the beach.

A statement of the main points made at the meeting is being put together for me to present at the Council meeting on Wednesday 20th March.

Wed 20th March 02
Attended by Beachlands Managment, Local Councillors, the Golf Club Secretary, Andy Biggs and myself

The meeting kicked off by asking the Golf Club Secretary what the outcome of the clubs committee meeting on the subject of kitesurfing on the Golf club beach.

The Golf Club have decided to allow kitesurfing to continue on their beach but under certain conditions. Unfortunately they would not reveal those conditions at the meeting but I am having a meeting with them next week.

I did have a conversation with the Club secretary after the council meeting. It was suggested that along with discussing the Golf Clubs requirements we would be going onto the beach to pace out a one hundred and fifty metre strip ( launch/land area ) to see what it looks like, I took this as encouraging.

From what was said the Golf Clubs main concerns are that everyone has proof of third party insurance, there is no flying of kites above the high water mark ( which is fair comment as last weekend there were lots of people flying large kitesurfing kites at high tide fully clothed with no intention of going kitesurfing, this is very dangerous, there is not the room for the public to walk past safely and most of the pilots were beginner one who I spoke to had a 15m kite never flown before and 4 lines all set up wrong )

and that the club receives no more complaints from the public about the behaviour of kitesurfers. I have tried unsuccessfully to find out exactly the nature of the complaints so that I can possibly offer some defence.

I will let you know as soon as I have met with them what the result is. I hope it will be early next week.

After the Golf club had issued this statement, the council representatives issued a ban on kitesurfing on all their beaches all year round, then patted themselves on the back for sorting the whole kitesurfing issue out so well.

It was even mentioned that other local authorities would be looking to Havant Borough Council for advice on the matter.

If the meeting I have with the Golf Club goes well, the measures they require will need to be put in place very soon as the season is gathering pace. The Golf Club will put forward a date for a review of the situation, so whatever happens we will need your support, cooperation and possibly some practical help. Everyone must understand how seriously close we have come to a complete ban and it is not over yet by a long way

So come down this weekend good forecast with low tide all day, set your kit up and sail west of the big post and don't upset anyone. Phil

At this point the council sort of washed their hands of the issue as the ball was now in the Golf clubs court.
All the time I was having to go to meeting after meeting and time was passing so it was important to continue monitoring the beach and making sure no accidents happened that could scupper us completely over night. It does seem like you are banging your head against a brick wall, it is important to get on with implementing safety strategies on the beach even though you may not have full permition to do so. If you don't there will be an incident that leaves you without a leg to stand on. Council and Golf Club meetings take forever and certain committees may only meet every quarter.

In the mean time while waiting for meetings to come it was important to keep up the pressure on the kitesurfing community by keeping them informed

4th April 2002

Sorry things have gone a bit quiet but there will be news soon

In the meantime you may have noticed that we have been running a land and launch area at the weekends.

This has been working very well and hopefully will be continued with the addition of some signage to warn the public

The Golf Club has asked that there be no kite flying above the high water mark as there is not enough room for kites and the public at high tide.

I think that this is fair comment as especially on an onshore wind it only takes one kite to fall out of the sky and it will take out the whole beach and footpath.

If you are a beginner and wish to come down to practice flying your kite off the water, please try and come down at a time when the beach is quite and the tide is out.

Thankyou to everyone for cooperating thus far, we are counting on everyone to make this work Thanks Phil Elborough H.K.A. Administrator

10th June 2002

Still no new news. There has been talk of the council ban on Hayling, this is true and was discussed at the last meeting I went to back in March. The council were going to erect signs in all the car parks banning kitesurfing on their beaches, so far this has not happened. I can only think that this is because we are all using the launch and land area on the Golf Club beach and not causing the council a problem, they can save a few penny's by not erecting signs, I could be wrong.

Thanks to everyone for using the launch/land area, it seems to be working really well and makes for a great friendly atmosphere on the beach.

If you have an issue at your location the local newspaper is bound to take an interest, this is a very difficult one to deal with as to my frustration they never seem to be interested in reporting anything positive and I tried, the following article is a prime example.

26th June 2002

Recently the local newspaper have taken an interest in kitesurfing on hayling prompted by a complaint/letter from an anomanouse member of the puplic. The report follows:

Kite-surfers take a dive in popularity by Bryony Jones The Portsmouth News

KITE-surfers have been warned to shape up or ship out after a series of complaints that they have been confronting people walking along the beach.

[Phil Elborough]

The surfers were given permission to use the beach next to Hayling Golf Course last year in an attempt to keep them out of the way of other visitors. But in recent weeks, the golf club has been inundated with complaints about their conduct - prompting them to warn the surfers to change their ways. Club secretary Chris Cavill said: "Last year we had no problems, but recently there have been one of two renegade kite-surfers causing problems. We have had several complaints from members of the public about these peoples aggressive behaviour and we are not prepared to tolerate it. Basically the message to them is shape up or ship out." One woman, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals, said she had worried for her safety when confronted be the kite-surfers. She said: "I was walking my dog along the beach and watching the kite-surfers, thinking how dangerous it was and how I didn't really like being there with them on the beach." My dog was watching one man as he was setting up his kite, and the man said to me "keep your dog away or I'll take him out to sea and drown him!" "He was very threatening and said it was a private beach just for the kite-surfers and we had no business being there. I used to be in the navy, so I don't scare easily, but I was really frightened - my dog is my life and I really thought this man would hurt him." But Kitesurfer Phil Elborough, who runs Zero Gravity Kitesurfing shop on Hayling Island, said he had heard of very few problems. "I find it very hard to believe , because everyone who uses the beach for kite-surfing knows some people may try to ban it so they have to be as polite as possible. I did hear of on report of someone shouting at someone else's children - but it is quite possible these children were going too close to the kite and it was for their own safety."

After several attempts to contact the Golf Club out of the blue came a very distressing letter.

20th Feb 2003

I am calling an emergency meeting of the HKA on Saturday evening 7:00pm at the Inn on the beach Hayling Seafront

I received a letter from the Golf club today stating that despite all our good efforts to police the beach, they still received a number of complaints of kitesurfers being abusive.

As a result they had decided to ban kitesurfing from May this year.

After a moment to let this news sink in, I gave the Golf club a call, and after a long conversation, I have been asked to put our plans for how we could run kitesurfing on the beach down on paper so it can be put back in front of the committee.

Last year everyone worked very hard to keep the beach safe, we are just going to have to up the anti a bit.

I think there is some wind forecast for Saturday so please make a day of it and come and give us your support at the meeting

24th Feb 2003

Big thanks to all who attended the meeting on Sat and thanks to those who couldn't make it but sent me thier ideas.

The meeting went very well and it was agreed that with the Golf Clubs go ahead we would be implementing the following:

We will form a club, which will be affiliated with the British Kite Surfing Association.

All kitesurfers have to be a member of the club to sail on Hayling beach.

All club members will have valid third party insurance through the BKSA.

Each club member will be issued with a rash vest with their own personal identification number on it so they can be held to account should they cause a problem.

Each member will be assessed on their ability to ensure they are able to set up and use their equipment in a safe manner.

Beginners will be separated into an additional area further to the west of the beach the area Chris and myself (zero gravity kitesurf school) carry out our lessons, where they will be monitored. Any one learning to kitesurf must do so under the proper instruction of a qualified BKSA/IKO kitesurf instructor. We would eliminate friends teaching friends when they have not under gone the proper training that a BKSA/IKO instructor has, which would go a long way towards eliminating the problem of kites crashing on the beach.

A better marked out launch and land area will be put in place on weekends, busy days, and mid week through the summer.

All club members will be required to do a duty on a rota system, so that we have a member of the club controlling the launch and landing of the kites safely, on weekends and busy days mid week, throughout the summer.

The club would red flag the beach if it gets too busy or weather and tidal conditions mean that other beach users would be in danger.

The club would maintain a log recording details of any incidents or complaints.

By forming the club we would generate funds, which would enable us to pay for signage to better inform other beach users what is going on, it would also focus the importance of being a responsible beach user to each individual member.

A letter has been drawn up laying out these plans and sent to the Golf Club, so for now all we can do is wait for a reply.

03 March 2003

As promised I gave the Golf Club a call today as they have had our proposal for a week now. I spoke to the Club secretary who said he had produced copies of our proposal and sent them out to all the members of the committee. They are due to hold a meeting tonight and will discuss the situation, however some key members are away at the moment, so unfortunately we are unlikely to receive an answer for at least a couple of weeks. So we will have to sit tight for a while longer Phil

The time past and I still hadn't heard anything from the Golf Club they were not replying to my letters or phone calls, then we heard the real bomb shell, the Golf Club had been to a private (secret) meeting with the council and formulated a plan for the Golf Club to part fund the cost of a bylaw which would cover the Golf Clubs private land as well as the Council owned land.

At this point I made use of the Internet, emailing all members and posting on the BKSA message board with a request for people to write to the council apposing the proposed bylaw. We got a good response with over 140 letters.

23rd May 2003

At Wednesday evenings (21st May 2003) meeting of Havant's Licensing Committee the Chairman Cllr. Gordon Earlbach forced through a resolution to introduce a byelaw banning Kitesurfing on Havant Borough Council owned Beaches and the Golf Club Beach subject to receiving written evidence of Hayling Island Golf Club agreeing to this and jointly meeting costs.

The Beachlands Manager Dave Archer spoke against us because he said "kitesurfers were forcing windsurfers on to the Blue Flag section of the beach" Many of the Councilors, from both sides of the political bench, sought more information and first hand experience of what kitesurfing was all about, but the vote ultimately came down to party politics with the Conservative group voting unanimously (5 to 4) in favour of the ban.

Officers had stressed that the confirmation of such a byelaw was extremely unlikely, procedures required approval from the Deputy Prime Ministers Office and to date there is no model for such a byelaw. In fact a number of other Authorities are working with local clubs to manage kitesurfing on their Beaches. The evidence so far seemed to be that these were working satisfactorily and if Havant were to promote a ban, consultation with interested parties would need to demonstrate it was being introduced for the common good, note the 140 representations in favour of Kitesurfing on Hayling Island.

The procedures are lengthy, responsibility of the various sections of the Beach, above and below High Water Mark at the westernmost section of Hayling are uncertain and senior officers of the Council who spoke to us after the meeting said they wanted to work with us to promote our sport at Hayling.

My reading between the lines and after speaking to Cllr. Earlbach after the meeting was, that he had promised the Golf Club Council support for the ban, recognised it could take a long time and possibly never be confirmed if we demonstrated a responsible attitude to public safety etc. through a properly run club, working in "partnership" with the Council and Beachlands Management, who as we now know seem to be totally against us at present.

What should be our next steps:

On going dialogue with our Council Officer supporters, such as Freda Devonshire who spoke on our behalf, and working with her to prepare a kitesurfing management plan for the Beach.

Set up the club with a nominal fee to cover cost of identification rash vests and admin.

Agree as far as is possible a simple set of guidelines as we discussed, with priority of third party insurance.

Establish a positive working arrangement with the Golf Club on the basis the byelaw will take a long time to process and we want to "protect them from third party complaints. Similarly with the Beachlands Management Board and their Manager in particular.

Thankyou to everyone who sent in their emails of support although this committee chose to ignore them they are now on file with the legal department.

We will be working hard to set up the club properly before the summer season anyone who would wish to join the club please email me and as soon as we have sorted out all the details we will send you an application form

[Phil Elborough]

After this meeting the decision made would go to the next full council meeting, which would be held in August. In the next couple of months some events took place to turn everything around.
Two very serious accidents which made everyone far more aware of the possible dangers of the sport but as none of the incidents involved members of the public didn't seem to affect the banning issues.

We have just heard some very sad news that an experienced kitesurfer has lost his life in an accident at Calshot recently. It is the strongest reminder that kitesurfing can be an extremely dangerous sport in the wrong circumstances.

We are unsure of the exact details but whether it was an error of judgment or equipment failure, there are lessons we can learn to prevent a similar incident at Hayling.

What ever happened to cause loss of control of the kite there were two factors that turned this incident into a life threatening one.

Firstly the close proximity to solid objects, we have fought long and hard to hold onto the kitesurfing area in front of the golf course for many reasons, the sand bar, shallow water but one of the most important is the large area of clear space with no solid objects. When sailing at Hayling make sure you always sail in this area, when the wind is in a Southerly direction do not sail in front of the sea defenses to the East, you may feel in control but it only takes a line breakage and anything could happen.

A couple of months ago we had our worst incident when Blair seriously broke his leg on the sea wall. He was sailing in a West norm West cross off shore when he found himself in front of the sea defenses unable to get back up wind. He came in to shore and attempted to land, unfortunately he was lofted in a gust and hit the wall.

With hindsight this could have been so easily avoided by either body dragging downwind past the Inn on the beach where there is shingle beach and far fewer obstacles, or deploying his safety system and packing down his kite in the water.

Blair is well on the mend now but is unlikely to be fit to kitesurf for at least a year, in his words he was lucky not to have been killed.

Secondly the kitesurfer at Calshot was not wearing a helmet, we will never know but if he had maybe he would be alive today. I have been kitesurfing for four years now and I always wear my helmet, it makes me cringe when I see learners sailing without one. Please get yourself one and wear it!!!

Thanks again for your support and we look forward to a windy and safe autumn. Phil Elborough HKA

Then the local Hayling Island free newspaper ran a large article and letters page on the kitesurfing issue with about 85% in favour including a very good letter from the chairman of the local residents association.
The next day I received a visit from one of the key councillors who was opposed to kitesurfing. It turned out one of his hats was tourism and he said, " I think I can manage to get the other councillors to change their minds on this issue. I think we will be able to work something out."

Then I managed to get in contact with the Golf Club secretary and he said " Im glad you called, we have had a change of committee members and the general opinion is why are we banning kitesurfing, you had better come and see me."

So we went to the full council meeting with a nod and a wink whist hopping on one leg from the councillor that everything would be OK, but we still had to go through the motions of speaking at the meeting in our defence

Oct 04 2003

The following is copied from the minutes of Havant Borough Councils Lisencing Committee meeting held on 24th September 2003

The Committee at its meeting held on 21 May 2003 considered a report from the Director of Community Services on the issue of kite surfing at Beachlands and recommended that the council ban all kite surfing on Havant Borough Council owned beaches and the Golf Club beach through means of a byelaw, subject to
receiving satisfactory written evidence of Hayling Island Golf Club agreeing
to this and jointly meeting costs.

The Council at its meeting held on 23 July 2003 considered those recommendations together with a deputation made by the Hayling Kite Surfing Club and resolved that the matter be referred back to the Licensing
Committee for further consideration.

A copy of the Licensing Committee and Council minutes together with the report of the Director of Community Services dated 21 May 2003 had been circulated to members.

The Director of Community Services reported that the Hayling Kite Surfing Club was currently operating from land in the ownership of Hayling Island Golf Club. The safety of all beach users was the main priority of both
Clubs who were acting in a responsible manner by the proposal and adoption of a Regulatory Scheme. Under the scheme all kitesurfers had to be a member of the Kite Surfing Club and hold a membership card. Membership to date stood at between 130-140. Members had to sign and agree to Club
procedures. These included producing evidence of third party liability insurance, the wearing of a coloured vest which had the letters HKA (Hayling Kitesurfing Association) clearly visible on it and launching their kites within the allocated zone which was marked by flags on the beach. In addition to this the Hayling Kite Surfing Club had taken the initiative in displaying red flags which inform kitesurfers that launching was prohibited, not only in
bad weather conditions, but also when the beach was crowded with holidaymakers. The situation was being monitored regularly. A copy of the Association's report detailing proposed Club Regulations had been circulated to members.

A meeting between the two Clubs to review progress was proposed in October once the Summer visitors had left If the operation was successful the Hayling Island Golf Club would investigate the granting of a licence to the
Hayling Kite Surfing Club similar to that operated with the Sailing and Fishing Clubs.

RESOLVED that no further action be taken on a byelaw pending the outcome of the progress review in October between the Hayling Island Golf Club and the Hayling Kite Surfing Club and Officers report back to the Beachlands Management Board.


1st September 2003

Thank you for joining the HKA we appreciate your support, without it kitesurfing on Hayling would be on a knife-edge. With your support and the measures we have put in place on the beach, kitesurfing can now look forward to an exciting future.

At the last full council meeting of Havant Borough Council the proposal to apply to the government for a complete ban on Hayling was sent back to the licensing committee for re-consideration.

This decision was largely due to the formation of the club, the flag system on the beach and an excellent speech by Stuart Leyton on behalf of the HKA

We are currently putting together a report on our activities over the summer holidays to be presented to the council licensing committee and the Golf club secretary. We have been very pleased with everyone's conduct over the summer especially when we have had to red flag the beach, this has been very important and has shown that we as a group can be very responsible when other water sports have continued unregulated.

The club rash vests are on their way; we will have a small number shortly which will be issued to the members who use the beach the most. We have placed an order for a further one hundred, they will be issued ASAP. When your vest arrives you will be required to wear it when sailing at Hayling to prove you are a member and have third party insurance. Once we have the rash vest, it will be much easier to identify kitesurfers who are not members. In the mean time please help us by informing others of the need to be a member of the club and to have third party insurance.

If you have not yet let us know your insurance details please send them on to us ASAP so we can update our records.

The flag system on the beach: When the beach is open there will be a rectangle of four yellow flags to mark out the launch/land area, you must set up, launch and land within this area and park your kites in the area at the foot of the shingle bank when not in use, please wind your lines up if you are leaving your kite for any length of time.

There will also be one red no kitesurfing flag to the east of the launch/land area, this marks the furthest point to the east you can kitesurf within 200 meters of the beach to allow room for swimmers, if you need to come in past this point do so at a very slow speed or body drag to the shore and walk back past the red flag before re entering the water.

The beach will be closed when it is too dangerous to launch and land, if the beach is to busy. There will be a red no kitesurfing flag flown on the post in the shingle and on a post at the end of the car park.

I have had my meeting with the Golf Club in November not October and they have agreed to draw up a three year agreement for the Hayling Kitesurfing Association to run kitesurfing on the beach.

However I am currently still waiting for it to arrive!!!

I think the most important thing to do is just get on and form your club and implement the safety measures on the beach and confirm the authority later.

Phil Elborough

[e-mail]


ZERO GRAVITY EXTREME
THE HAYLING KITESURF SCHOOL

Telephone: Phil 02392 460555
Mobile: Chris 07956 125870 Phil 07760 363 716

222 The Sea Front
Hayling Island
Hampshire
PO11 OAU
e-mail: [e-mail]

[Phil Elborough]

Im pleased to report that the lisence has finally been drawn up
The golf club are very happy with how we are running the beach
so it seems the future of kitesurfing on Hayling is secure