SAVE WHITFORDS HORSE BEACH
THE HEART OF PERTH EQUESTRIAN COMMUNITY
Police welcome new horse recruit – Percheron cross filly Moonlight
Save Whitfords Horse Beach courtesy of Gormaymax
Click here to watch Belhus Racing Horses enjoying the beach
RALLY TO SAVE THE HORSE BEACH
SUNDAY 28th MARCH
AT WHITFORDS HORSE BEACH AT 10AM
A MASSIVE THANK YOU TO PETE MORLEY, SAM GIBSON AND THE COMMITTEE.
It was another great success this morning with over 30 horses on the beach and many more arriving this afternoon. It was great to see support from the Clydesdale Association right down to the beautiful minature horses.
A big thanks to Channel 10 for coming down again this morning we really appreciate it. It was great to see so many horses on the beach. We would also like to thank those people who turned up to support us, who just enjoy watching the beautiful sight of horses swimming and interacting with horses and riders. Another great day for families to spend time together with their horses on the beach. Lovely to see so many children with their ponies.
Save Whitfords Horse Beach - courtesy of Andy Evans
FORCING HORSE RIDERS OUT OF SAFE AREAS LIKE THE BEACH WILL DRIVE THEM TO EXERCISE ON THE ROADS. THIS IS PUTTING RIDER, HORSE AND ROAD USERS AT RISK.
Statement 5 from Joondalup Council
Issue Inadequate car parking at the current animal exercise beach car park in Hillarys.
The City acknowledges that current car parking facilities at the Hillarys Dog Beach have reached capacity during peak summer periods. To maintain the amenity of the area, the following approaches to car parking solutions should be preferred:
• Maximising car parking spaces within the existing car park footprint at the Hillarys
Dog Beach; and Prohibiting horse exercising on the beach and reconfiguring the horse float car park to accommodate a greater number of car bays for dog owners.
Mayor Pickard has been quoted as saying, “owners of 21,000 registered dogs were calling for a bigger dog beach…”
Yet only 1700 signatures have been collected on the petition, a very small percentage of 21,ooo dog owners. We still have no confirmation that those who signed this petition were aware that extending the dog beach meant closing the horse beach.
Thanks to all those that attended the protest on the 7th and the 14th and brought your horses and ponies down. It was nice to see such a wide variety from Racers to Shetlands. A special thanks to those who travelled all the way from Freemantle.
PLEASE SEND US IN YOUR PHOTOS AND VIDEOS.
Thank you to all the dog owners supporting us, who were unaware extending the dog beach meant closing the horse beach.
We will be holding rallies every Sunday until 6th April. This is your chance to save OUR horse beach, please attend all rallies as Mayor Pickard has already stated, “I must admit that I was surprised that so few people attended the rally, providing me with comfort that the options we have presented to the community do indeed reflect the broad interests of our residents and ratepayers.”
Apparently Mayor Pickard has claimed this section of beach for his constituents. I was under the impression it belonged to the state and was accessible to all in WA. Therefore all that use it have a democratic vote.
It was a great turn out especially with so little time to organise everything. Every viable parking space was filled with horse floats.
We encourage you to write to Mayor Pickard with your complaints and suggestions, but urge you to direct your opinions to the Councillors of Joondalup on the main Joondalup Council email address and directly to the councillors on their own email addresses. These can be found further down this page.
It is not just going to effect horse owners, breeders and trainers but will hit the float hire industry hard. Much of their summertime trade is float hire to the beach.
Most horse owners are dog owners too. Many live in urban areas but agist out of town.
Please can everyone complete the ONLINE SURVEY that is part of the draft proposal as this is how the council will gauge public opinion.
Sadly with yet another Council faux pas they have included only two questions in regards to the horse beach in the survey, but numerous questions on both Kitesurfing and Dogs in relation to the beach. Please see the two questions below:
1) The Hillarys Horse Beach Carpark is under-utilised and should be made available for others to use?
2) It is important that the City provides areas on the beach for horses to be exercised?
This is meant to be a fair public debate yet all the options put forward by the council include closing the horse beach.
The Western Australian reported that, “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.
Joondalup Council has provided figures of how many registered dog owners there are, but failed to find any figures of how many of its taxpayers own horses, are in the Equine Industry and will be effected. A somewhat bias and naive approach.
We believe that both horses and dogs should have access to and enjoy the beach.
We need you to write directly to Joondalup Council with your concerns. Please sign the petition and leave your comments. This is just one of the many comments on the petition.
“The Beach cannot be closed down!! Hundreds of horses go there every year, We only take up a small section of the beach. The DOGS do not need anymore space! people travel from Chittering and Bullsbrook just to get there, imagine traveling to KWINANA Which is the next closest! Even the POLICE MOUNTED SECTION use that beach to excersise there horses, they take up to 12 horses at any one time! “
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.
This is an outrageous suggestion when Perth has such a flourishing Equine Industry.
Perth has a flourishing equine industry, we want to stop Joondalup Council closing Whitfords horse beach north of the river.
The decision to advertise the Draft Beach Management Plan was made by Council, and is currently out for public comment
It is suggested the horse beach is closed in order to expand the dog beach. The council cannot even police the dog beach as it stands. Dogs are running free into other areas unsupervised, the beach is dirty from dog excrement and dog fights are not unusual. Dog owners deserve the right to be able to take their dogs to the beach safely, as do horse owners.
If the council cannot handle these matters now, how will they cope with an expanded dog beach. They suggest that a horse beach is no longer appropriate in an urban setting. Many riding schools, race tracks and pony clubs are within an urban setting including some branches of Riding for the Disabled.
We have been given just six weeks to advertise the proposal, inform horse owners and collect signatures.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
IMPORTANT PLEASE GO TO THE SITE BELOW WHERE YOU ARE ABLE TO REGISTER YOUR COMPLAINTS OFFICIALLY AND GET FULL DETAILS OF THE PROPOSED PLANS.
CLOSING DATE: Tuesday, 6 April 2010
http://www.joondalup.wa.gov.au/govern/CommunityConsultation/DraftBeachManagementPlan.aspx
Please write to Permier Colin Barnett and voice your objections.
Hon Colin Barnett MLA
Suite 12
589 Stirling Highway
Cottesloe
Western Australia 6011
Telephone +61 8 9383 1505
Facsimile +61 8 9385 2352
Email: cottesloe@p.wa.gov.au
Email: wa-government@dpc.wa.gov.au
CITY OF JOONDALUP
Main number 9400 4000
Fax 9300 1383
Email info@joondalup.wa.gov.au
Write to the City of Joondalup Councillors
Cr Hollywood - kerry.hollywood@joondalup.wa.gov.au
Cr McLean - tom.mclean@joondalup.wa.gov.au
Cr Young – trona.young@joondalup.wa.gov.au
Cr Taylor - philippa.taylor@joondalup.wa.gov.au
Cr Amphlett - geoff.amphlett@joondalup.wa.gov.au
Cr Gobbert – liam.gobbert@joondalup.wa.gov.au
Cr Corr – brian.corr@joondalup.wa.gov.au
Cr Chester – john.chester@joondalup.wa.gov.au
Cr Norman – mike.norman@joondalup.wa.gov.au
Cr Hamiliton-Prime – christine.hamilton-prime@joondalup.wa.gov.au
Cr Diaz - fiona.diaz@joondalup.wa.gov.au
Cr Fishwick - russ.fishwick@joondalup.wa.gov.au
Mayor Troy Pickard
Post: PO Box 937 Joondalup WA 6919
Phone/Fax: (08) 6210 1363
Email: mayor@pickard.com.au
Contact the WA Green Party – office@wa.greens.org.au
Contact the WA Labour Party – info@wa.alp.org.au
Contact the media
Contact Bob Maumill at 6PR -
Talkback: 08 9221 1882
SMS: 19 999 677
Email Bob Maumill (bob@6pr.com.au)
Producer: Melanie
Phone: 08 9220 1400
Email: melanieb@6pr.com.au
Channel 7 News - news@7perth.com.au
Perth Now – click on this link http://www.perthnow.com.au/help/storytips
A Current Affair – http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/feedback/default.aspx?formid=228
West Australian Newspapers
Postal address:
GPO Box D162
Perth, WA 6840
Telephone:
(08) 9482 3111
Save Whitfords Horse Beach
March 1, 2010 at 3:19 am
A group from my stables will be going to the beach on Sunday 7th at 10am to protest.
Everyone please come and show your support
March 3, 2010 at 4:53 am
All are welcome even if you do not have a horse but believe that the horses should be able to keep their beach. Please support us.
We have the Community Newspaper coming with photographer and the local councilors will be attending.
Sunday 7th March 2010 at 10am.
March 3, 2010 at 11:52 am
i think horses need the beach because race horses go there before races so there muscles relax so they race better and stressed horses get taken to the beach to help them relieve stress and its so much fun for horses to get out and have fun in the water for the day. We pay money to the council too so we deserve to have a horse beach. Towards the dog beach, just open noodes beach car park to dog owners so there is more parking.
March 4, 2010 at 2:39 am
I think to take this Horse Beach away would be an outrageous thing to do. There is no harm in having an excercise area for both horses & dogs, and frankly I think that the horse beach serves a great purpose to animal (especially horse) lovers and the community as a whole. By going through with this it will truly show that variety and options are getting less, rather than more in this day and age, and my personal memories of taking my own horses to the beach when I was younger will slowly fade – without the chance to take my own childrens horses there one day.
Thank you.
Regards,
Kerrie Allen.
March 4, 2010 at 2:49 am
It is unfair to expect horse owners to travel to the next available beach in Kwinana. Whitfords beach has always been a horse beach, why change it now.
Everyone including horses and dogs can share the beach why are horse owners being asked to move off.
Lots of horse owners live and work in the City of Joondalup even though their horses are kept outside of the City of Joondalup their owners are still rate payers and local community citizens.
Lets support the horses and give them a voice to enable them to stay on the beach for a cool swim in summer.
March 4, 2010 at 8:23 am
Why don,t all you animal lovers -be it dog ,cat horse or bloody mouse! all work together for a change. Secure the future of recreational use on beaches for animals, by sharing and respecting each others needs. For example designate certain days for each ,post signs and impose penalities to keep people honest. Use and live with aloha Paul H.
March 4, 2010 at 9:26 am
I was recently (several months ago),asked to sign a petition to extend the whitfords Dog beach,not realizing at the time, that it would be to the detriment of the Horse Beach to the North, I am a father & dog owner and use the dog beach regularly, I often walk North to where the horse owners are exercising there horses, and what a pleasure it is to have the horse owners allow my children, and even my dog (on leash), to interact with there horses, they explained it is often good to expose them to different environments & animals and then to watch these amazing animals swim and roll in the sand and water, actually enjoying themselves, I was then blown away to hear recently that there is a ludicrous plan to abolish their exercise area, Here is a common sense idea, give the Horses some more of our Dog Beach, Amen, I’ll sign that petition, lets get real,we don’t need a bigger dog beach, just a better managed one with more responsible dog owners! Hello!!!
March 4, 2010 at 2:13 pm
Hey,
PLEASE CAN EVERYONE COMPLETE THE – online survey that is part of the draft proposal – as this is how the council will guege public opinion.
here is a link to the on-line survey.
http://forms.joondalup.wa.gov.au/fs.aspx?surveyid=1f6a17ec6cf42f68f4de614197ae879
please also review the draft beach management plan.
IT IS REALLY IMPORTANT THAT AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE DO THIS!!!
March 5, 2010 at 4:05 am
I just filled out the online survey, but extremely disapointed to realise that keeping the horse beach open is not an option on the questionare.
“It’s very bias that no where in this questionare have you said that extending the dog beach would infact exclude horses.
Dog owners and their families get such a thrill to see the horses enjoying themselves at the beach. Many take photos and ask to pat the horses.
It’s very bias that there was no option on extending the dog beach only to the south and saving the horse beach. This has obviously created a HUGE bias in the results, suggesting that everyone who fills out this questionare wants the horse beach closed – which is certainly NOT the case!
The Horse beach is used by hundreds of people and horses a week, from the mounted police, to race horse owners to competition horses and even pleasure horses.
The beach is very important for recreation, rehabilitation and exercise.
The dog beach is already very large, and considering there are numerous other dog beaches in the area, it seems very unfair to exclude horses.
If the dog beach needs to be extended, why not extend it south? If you need more parking why don’t you allow people to park in the Nodes car park.
As a rate payer and a dog owner I will be outraged if the horse beach is closed due to this incredibly bias questionare!!”
March 6, 2010 at 5:56 am
I’m a regular user of Whitfords beach with my horses. Twice a week weather permitting. Of course I want the facility to remain open. However, with the rapid growth in population of the area, I can see the council’s view re the parking squeeze.
This parking squeeze only ever happens on a weekend when it’s nice weather. NEVER at any other time. And therein lies the problem.
If horse owners want to retain the facility as it is-without change-then they will more than likely lose the battle. When two opposing parties clash like this, it’s usually wiser to negotiate a solution that pleases both. This is a much better option than there being one winner and one loser.
So with that in mind, why don’t we, the horse owners, negotiate to keep the beach open to horses EXCEPT for peak times which are usually Saturday and Sunday morning December, through January, February and March. Go down to the beach at any other time than this, and there’s no problem whatsoever with the dog owners searching for parking. And that’s really their problem isn’t it? Because excluding the above times, most of them are either at work or it’s not warm enough for them.
Peter Morley
Belhus Racing Stable
March 7, 2010 at 12:16 pm
I agree with Peter Morley that we need to rally for a solution. My suggestion to the council is the following:
Everyone is entiltled to use beaches, I appreaciate that certain designated areas need to be set for different uses.
I suggest that the dog beach be extended south towards Nodes park and the car park there be utilised by the dog owners. Therefore meaning that the horse beach be kept as is and the rules of Dogs on leads on the horse area be enforced. This way everyone is happy –
I think that we should work our petitions in a simular mannger. Not merely saying DON@T CLOSE THE BEACH – but proposing alternatives that will allow us to keep the beach.
March 8, 2010 at 1:03 am
is there going to be another demonstration at the beach any time soon? i got the email with the date for yesterday on the actual morning and already had plans for the day, so was unable to attend..
March 8, 2010 at 1:58 am
As a user of the horse beach and dog beach I can see both arguements, however the “options” given in the Beach Plan survey are totally undemocratic in that they do not consider extension of the dog beach to the south while retaining the horse beach. This does not give sympathetic dog owners the option to vote for a compromised solution…this is a totally unfair and biased survey…please register your complaint by commenting on the survey… The survey does not accommodate any voice or option for horse beach users…basically ..it’s a fix!!!
March 8, 2010 at 2:32 pm
Well said Neil, I completely agree!
I also agree with Becky, we shouldn’t just say ‘dont close the beach’ we need to suggest to the council a compromise that they and the dog owners are happy with.
Extending the beach south is a great idea!
Don’t forget to email your comments to the council