Hi Bennie,
That has been the status quo for many years over there. It works and they kept access to most of the good spots. It's a bit different over there though with the airport where it is and the aircraft do fly low at the end of the runway (Sprecks). There is also bloody heaps of terrifying Euro's on poleboards that gybe without notice and never look so not safe to kite there in any case.
You can still ride Lanes and Lowers so you have plenty of options.
But yes, we'll probably see something like that here in time too.
DM
I think they have relaxed a bit, the airport climb path is still off limits, but the red area to the left of the yellow bit was full of kiters when we were there in June. There were heaps of poleys too, because it was 25-40 knots every day.
The kiters who can ride out there seem to be wise enough to either stay away from the peaks the poleys were charging or they had the skill to mix and not get in the way.
And yeah that will inevitably be coming to many spots that are within the major citys in Oz.
One of the reason the yellow area runs two miles out to sea is obviously departing and landing aircraft, but if a jet loses a engine on take-off, the certification will guarantee a single engine climb rate of 154feet/nautical mile. This is not alot, but means that in an emergency, a rather large jet, say a B777, could be climbing in that corridor at only an altitude of 50-100feet! I have flown in and out of that airport several times, and sometimes the kites look pretty close. A kite wrapped around the leading edge of a large jet would probably bring it down, especially if it was climbing out at best single engine climb speed, called V2. Obviously the rider would not fare very well, either! In Sydney, for example, a heavily loaded B777, losing an engine on runway 16R, will probably pass through Botany bay heads at less than 200 feet AGL.
good call mate thanks for that. I had no idea on all the statistics but I have seen those big bastards come out while at sprecks visiting some windsurfers and they are low low low.
Similar restrictions in place on some bays around Wellington Airport in NZ. Had friends who were unaware of this who went out and were signalled a while later by cops on the shore who explained it all to them.
I think it fair to say that it's a good idea to keep the **** away from any airport, runway, landing strip, heli pad or bay/river or whatever that is used by seaplanes.
There are usually thousands of useable kilometres of empty ocean that can be used adjacent to these sorts of places so no need to go within 1 km of any approach lanes or airport boundaries. In fact, the FAC usually stipulate 4km from the airport boundary.
Be smart when kiting, remember you represent the kitesurfing community at large and by you doing something stupid, brings the whole sport into disrepute.
DM
Extract from.... www.legislation.gov.au/ComLaw/Legislation/LegislativeInstrumentCompilation1.nsf/framelodgmentattachments/7CC75FCC65C3D5DFCA25767E002A794C
<quote>
CIVIL AVIATION REGULATIONS - REG 260 Fixed balloons and kites
260. (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in regulation 157, a fixed
balloon or kite may be flown at a height not exceeding 300 feet, but a fixed
balloon or kite shall not be flown within 4,000 metres of an aerodrome or at a
height in excess of 300 feet except with the express permission of the
Authority and in accordance with the terms of that permission.
<end quote>
CASA are the authority that manage these regulations. I have been told by CASA that there are cases where permision is granted (to fly a kite within 4km of an airport). I am also aware of a local council asking CASA to put up signs on one of their beaches refering to this regulation.
So, in short, it is worth the effort to 'play nice' and work within reasonable rules. 
Yea Wellie is like that too... only the airport thing.... allowed to kite on western end of Lyall Bay. Works perfectly. You don't really wanna be messing with a 747 anyway lol... i'm sure that would be bad for your kite.
But we kite at a few spots in the Manukau Harbour which are near to Auckland International airport. But we are off to the side so no real biggie... similiar to the setup at Lyall Bay.
What's more a of a problem of course is the other area where its more "kiter vs swimmer" as opposed to "kiter vs jumbo". Like you guys in OZ we have the occasional bad press due to kiters in amoungst swimmers. But over here (in auckland where most ppl complain) we are sorta lucky cos our better winds are the best in spring and autumn NOT summer. Even in summer its never both hot AND windy so unlikely your gonna be kiting a crowded beach unless you like grovelling in 8 knots at takapuna haha (which is what causes the problems).
Yeah you still get the odd person swimming in windy condituions but they are the crazy sort and hence don't whinge when a person whizzes by on a kite... infact they WANT you to jump over over them 
An interesting phenomenon which can be seen at Kurnell in Sydney at times in Summer is the mini twisters created by the wing tip vortices from Jumbo's coming in heavy in Nor'Easters. They normally spin longitudinally, but sometimes go vertical and create a proper twister.
I've witnessed, as I'm sure many other locals have, the twisters whizzing their way across the bay sucking water off the surface as they continue their way down the bay kilometers away from the airport.
I remember a time when Gordo (early crew will remember Gordo 
) actually kites into one. It whipped his kite around, lifted him, turned his kite inside out and spat him out in a mess. Very sudden and could have had a bad outcome. Perhaps this is part of the reason they have a 4 km exclusion zone. Not just safety for passengers, but for kiters too 
DM
