GARDEN ISLAND FISHING & AQUATIC ASSOCIATION (INC.)
GIFAA Day – Save the date
A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ASSOCIATION
The Garden Island Fishing and Aquatic Association is an incorporated body, originally established in 1958 to manage and protect the interests and property of the cottage owners on the North End of the Island. When the Armaments depot was established in Sulphur Bay the cottages were demolished and quite a few of their owners, rather than give up the “Island Life” started to holiday on board their boats. In 1981 the Association was resurrected to cater for the boating public who visit the Island. With interest by the boating public in visiting Garden Island rapidly increasing as southern metropolitan Perth expands, the need for a formal management policy for recreational boat mooring within the Controlled Naval Waters which surround Garden Island has been recognised. An Interim Mooring Management Policy was established in 1997 and following review, the Garden Island Recreational Moorings Management Policy (2005) for public mooring is the current policy which GIFAA’s Constitution and rules are formed under. Our aims are to preserve public access, the environment and the facilities that we enjoy today. There are no public moorings and use is not permitted without permission.
Rafting of vessels is not permitted by order Superintendent of the Garden Island Naval Waters.
DoT recommences flare disposal service
You can again dispose of out of date flares at selected Department of Transport (DoT) offices.
For information about DoT offices currently accepting flares for disposal and other locations including the Western Australian Local Government Association centres or Volunteer Marine Rescue groups please visit www.transport.wa.gov.au/flares to read all about flares
Wildlife Advice
With the warmer weather this spring we have seen an increase in the number of snake sightings. The island is populated by both the relatively harmless pythons and also the deadlier tiger snakes. This is just a reminder that you should always thoroughly check the toilet blocks before use and I would encourage all parents to escort their children to the toilets. When the summer gets hot these animals will move in to the bushlands to stay cool but for the moment they are using the open tracks and man-made structures to warm up. BE AWARE!!!
Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA)
There has been an increase in the use of RPA (commonly known as drones) at the island. The committee would like to remind all members that the operation of RPA in the mooring areas IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. This is due to several reasons, firstly the operation of RPA comes under the control of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). Full regulations can be downloaded from the CASA website https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2017L01370 Regulation 8 is the one that covers drone usage when other people are present: 8. Directions relating to the operation of RPA near people
(1) I direct that a person controlling an RPA must ensure that the aircraft is not operated less than 30 m from a person unless the person has duties essential to the control or navigation of the aircraft.
(2) For subregulation (1), the distance of 30 m is measured in every direction from the point on the ground directly below the aircraft
Secondly and perhaps more of a security matter, much of Garden Island has restrictions due to ammunition storage and flight path locations.