Excellent! I hope it's a bit of bad reporting, regardless i sent this tirade off to the local paper:

We all know we were sold a lemon with the ‘Super City’.  Did anyone really believe we were going to save millions? While there are lots of little niggles we can grizzle about (try running a community event sometime and you will understand) but this one takes the cake. I had to check my calendar in case I had been drinking too heavily and skipped six months of my life and woken on April 1.

 

Nope. It’s true. We now have the Animal Management Bylaw 2015. This by law is designed to keep horses safe on Karioitahi beach. Now don’t get me wrong I love animals, they’re delicious.  I don’t mind horses, although I’d never own one myself. So we need to keep them safe from hoons on the beach. You know the type – guys (it’s almost always guys) ride their motorcycles at speed on the beach. They scare the horses and put their riders at risk of a fall. Then there are the cars. Some of the drivers get carried away alright. I’ve seen some sights but often times it’s the mess they leave behind that’s every bit as bad as the danger they pose to other beach users. Broken bottles, rusted wrecks of stolen cars, it’s terrible.

 

Many years ago when my children were nippers in the Surf Life Saving club we had to contend with motorcycle heroes on one wheel, noisy cars weaving at speed along the hard packed sand, long cables stretched along the beach connected to some type of flying machine, inconsiderate fishermen sending kites out right beside the flags and galloping horses – yep, even the horsey crowd had an element of the irresponsible and careless amongst their ranks. All right outside the club rooms and immediately behind the flags.

 

So now we need a permit to use the beach. Unless it is in the designated zone for horse trailers or to launch or retrieve a vessel. Why on earth do we need a by-law when the beach is a designated road, complete with a speed limit and other compliance issues? Obviously,  to me at least, this is the result of lobbying by someone with a vested interest in horses. Why am I concerned? Well for a start I can no longer do a spur of the moment trip down the beach to go fishing, the surfers in my family now need to apply in advance if they get a weather opportunity to go surfing near the river mouth. We can no longer drive responsibly on the beach taking friends for a sightseeing tour. Well actually we can. All we need to do is apply for a permit. Great, I bet that will go through the system at light speed.

 

That’s not my biggest concern though. We have paid someone to put this through the Council to become law. We already have national rules of the road in place and this by-law only serves two purposes. One it placates the people who ride their horses on the beach. Two, it gives the council power to drive around and hand out infringement notices to people who have broken no laws but haven’t applied for their permit. What a pile of horse****!

 

I’m the first to admit that there are irresponsible fishermen using the beach but that applies across the board so this is not a grumble about horse riders, some are conceited for sure, some are reckless too but most are as community minded as the rest of us.

 

If there was consultation with the community I didn’t see it., neither in my capacity as a local who uses the beach nor as a member of what is possibly one of the largest sporting clubs in the district, especially as we have a significant presence on the beach. If the Council are worried about public safety and illegal activities then involve the police force, that’s what they are for. If there aren’t enough police to enforce these existing rules then lobby the government and do something useful with our rates. Look after your constituents or we won’t look after you.

 

what a rip....permits eh.......they can jam it,ill still drive on the beach. Them dog roll riders can get quite offensive sometimes,ive had one threaten me while I was fishing cause I was too far from the waters edge.Also ive never ever seen any of them pick up the horse turds....

Here you go Smudge, this is the clause I like.

(3) Where a licence, consent, permit, dispensation, permission or other form of approval was not required under a bylaw referred to in subclause (1), and under this bylaw a licence is required , a person must obtain a licence within 12 months of the commencement date of this bylaw.

horse riders and buggy drivers can be some of the more idiotic people on the beach,ive had them purposely pull in front of me when im driving high up on the soft sand,making me slow to the point I almost get stuck.I always make sur to slow down and move away from them when driving down the beach,as not to spook them....but you still get filthy looks.I think they think they have more right to be there than anyone else to be honest.Ive had arguements with them about horse shet on the beach,most times they try and say its from another horse,or its plankton or whatever. This permit thing is definately being pushed by someone that has a dog in the fight,cant see it working to be honest.

theres a few bays out here man,but i assume you mean wattle bay......good fishing sometimes,only on low though,too shallow for high tide.

yep breakout sinkers for sure. 2hrs before and after low is good.If you cast too far you will end up in the channel and most likely lose your rig. Ive caught a kingy,gurnard and KY and snaps there,and the odd ray.Hard sand so you can drive on it....bait wise,i use anything I have on the day.Fish infront of the stream to the right,or walk around to the hanging tree to the left. Dont drop any berley in an onion sack over the ledge though,you might catch a cray then,and ill have to come down to grab it and take it for testing.

you can drive either way,its a bit hard to get all the way round to the left in a non 4wd wagon,rocks and stuff,but i drive round there in my old battle truck.
Yes you will be casting into the channel,the more you go round to the left,the closer to the channel you will be.When you get to the carpark,you can go straight over the sand dune,or left into the carpark and theres a easier entry onto the beach.

Wattle Bay is near the top of the Awhitu Peninsula Fiz so it is on the south side of the harbour.

I just went to Auckland councils web site to get a beach permit to drive on Kariotahi beach, and it's ridiculously easy.  Just enter your details and it generates the permit online and you just print it.  Here's the link  http://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/en/licencesregulations/drivingonbeaches/Pages/home.aspx

You can just walk out to fish at wattle if you don't have a 4x4 , it's only a few hundred metres.