Be careful what you wish for…
After what feels like a never-ending series of near-fatal accidents around Byron featuring leashless hipsters on longboards belting people in the head, its council has unanimously voted to enforce the wearing of legropes by law.
Yesterday, councillor Cate Coorey, a progressive who says “we must heal and restore this land and plan for a climate disrupted future” put forward the motion that would see cops roaming the beach ready to sting the leashless with on-the-spot fines of $75 or $1100 if you want to take it to court.
There’s gonna be signs on the beach and rangers on the sandy beat although the council’s legal advice is it might be a little tricky to make a clean bust.
“The offence … is not just about engaging in certain conduct [not wearing a leash], but engaging in that conduct contrary to a notice,” the report said, adding the council would need to prove they had passed “near enough to a notice prior to entering the water that they could be said to have acted contrary to it”.
Two months ago, the pro surfer Matt Cassidy nearly bled out on the beach at Wategos after being hit by a loose board and six months back, an aged care worker and mother of a disabled kid was crippled after she got belted by an out-of-control surf pilot who then criticised her for damaging his board with her bone and tissue.
“It sends the right message that people are starting to take it seriously, that surf safety is something we should have top of mind when we enter the water,” said Cassidy. If it helps just one kid hanging out at the lagoon at the Pass not get hit in the head by a mal, they’ve done the right thing.
You like cops on the beach?
Or do you prefer a little ol frontier justice?
I’m all for this! My local break is ridiculously crowded, and could also do with a bit of this.
It will be interesting to see how they police it
Last time I checked, none of my Surfboards are Registered. Lots of Byron surfers are holidaying. I can’t see anyone fuessing up to their actual name, address DOB etc.
Great idea Byron Council. Good luck with that!
Yes!!! I love fines!
…asked nobody
Saw a chic on a log no leggy today, you could see both her ankles and thighs..
You like the beach?
I’ll beach your a$$!
This is gayer than aids
Surf aids was from byron
Patient zero?
What a bunch of pussies surfers have become , even worse this is in Aus…
No surprise here. Oz is the China of the western world.
Back to the future, next it will be registrations on boards and clubbies given authority to police and issue infringement notices on the beach …so fucked it’s not actually funny.
Anything make the hipsters cry is worth it. Anyone not wearing a legrope is a ponce anyway.
Dez, you have once again plundered an ABC North Coast story to produce this piece – any chance you could at least credit where you got the info and quotes from????????
Good point! Link added.
Let’s see how everyone’s so-called rebelliousness goes once the fines commence arriving in the mail.
You can be as rebellious as you want, for as long as you don’t infringe on someone else’s rights. If I were to get hurt by a wanna be hipster’s loose board I would take every penny that he or she may have now or in the next 12 years.
My local is a pointbreak that has rocks all along the shoreline. Occasionally hipsters come out trying to look like bloody Alex Knost. No leg rope and not a care in the world. Quite funny to see their polished cross stepping poise reduce to kookdom when they inevitably fall off and make a desperate lunge to grab their board.
Then their precious 60s log with resin tint gets carried along in the whitewater and even though the wave is soft, the rocks are unforgiving to such hipster antics.
Surfing without a legrope is like swimming with no clothes. Yeah there’s a sense of freedom, but best left to where there’s no one around.
Maybe that’s the answer – install a pile of rocks on the inside of Byron. Of course, it won’t stop the average Byronite from being able to replace their retro log, because most of the residents are more Matt Damon and less Joe Bogan
Haha. Surf Cops. Good luck with that, you pussies.
Gayron Bay
There’s a Reno 911 joke here somewhere.
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