New harbour bye-laws in Kerry

SeaFields

Kerry county council have decided to introduce new harbour bye-laws for many areas around Kerry. Some of the very intelligent and well thought out proposals within the new bye-laws are:

No diving operation, swimming or bathing shall be carried out within the Harbour except with the written consent of the Harbour Master / Authorised
Officer

No person shall play any game or carry on any activity that is inappropriate to the Harbour. The decision of the Harbour Master / Authorised Officer, as to what is not an appropriate game or activity shall be final.

No person or organisation shall film, photograph or otherwise record for commercial use, within the Harbour, save with the prior consent of the Council and by payment of an appropriate fee.

(no more wedding photos on the local beach)

Link to draft proposal

Many of the places that these new laws apply to are not exactly like Dublin port in terms of traffic. They are small, old, largely unused piers situated on beaches.

So folks, if ye are planning on coming to Kerry this year for a short break, be sure to write to the harbour master and ask for permission to swim at the local beach. And leave the kids at home as games are now forbidden.

Seriously tho....we are trying to promote tourism and new bye-laws like this are being considered. It really makes my head hurt

Opinions?

(edit - i believe this is the correct forum mods as it is a tourism issue?)

BornToKill

Harbours and piers, not beaches.

SeaFields

BornToKill wrote: »

Harbours and piers, not beaches.

Yes, but as worded in the proposal the areas surrounding the piers are included (to varying degrees, 15, 20, 30 metres eitherside to the highwater mark) under the bye-laws and with many of these old piers being on beaches, these laws will apply to parts of the beach.

feelgoodinc27

It seem like Kerry CoCo are concerned with public liability issues from the first two points. They might be lax about their enforcement as they may only be trying to cover themselves in case of an accident where they are at risk of liability.

On the point of taking photos/recording videos, I don't think it will affect wedding photos as while a commercial service is generally used the photos are for private not commercial use.

SeaFields

feelgoodinc27 wrote: »

It seem like Kerry CoCo are concerned with public liability issues from the first two points. They might be lax about their enforcement as they may only be trying to cover themselves in case of an accident where they are at risk of liability.

On the point of taking photos/recording videos, I don't think it will affect wedding photos as while a commercial service is generally used the photos are for private not commercial use.

Thanks. I see what you are saying regarding the first point but these places would have the "you use this pier at your own risk" type signs up. Perhaps this isn't enough to absolve them of liability? I'm not sure but it seems very far fetched to have to write it into law. Obviously if these were being used widely for commercial purposes I can see the logic behind it, but these are old piers used mainly for leisure.

Not sure of the second point still. I can only see it being aimed at weddings as its not as if Spielberg is down here week in, week out, making films!

There's much more to what I have outlined in the OP tho. Simple things like no overnight parking on piers affects visitors in campers (my local pier is particularly popular for this with many foreign visitors), there is uncertainty as to how it will affect the triathlon scene and rowing competitions which are very big and attract lots of visitors.

The whole thing is very killjoy.

AlekSmart

SeaFields wrote: »

There's much more to what I have outlined in the OP tho. Simple things like no overnight parking on piers affects visitors in campers (my local pier is particularly popular for this with many foreign visitors), there is uncertainty as to how it will affect the triathlon scene and rowing competitions which are very big and attract lots of visitors.

The whole thing is very killjoy.

First question in my mind is how much KCC has invested into this process.

I would be quite surprised if the Council did not have to completely review every Legal Document relating to every applicable area covered by this edict,at,I suspect no small cost in legal-fee's.

All that being said,however,I would be VERY surprised if this entire sad spectacle was not focused entirely upon the final two words in this sentence....

No person or organisation shall film, photograph or otherwise record for commercial use, within the Harbour, save with the prior consent of the Council and by payment of an appropriate fee.

As a culture,the modern Irish are now far more beholden to foreign,arguably oppressive,domination than we ever were under British Imperial rule,it's just not quite as sexily resistable as their Britannic Majesties were.

At the end of the day Kerry Co Co has to find the money to pay off it's creditors,wherever they may be,and if enacting vaguely 19th Century restrictive leglislation be the way forward then so be it.

BornToKill

AlekSmart wrote: »

As a culture,the modern Irish are now far more beholden to foreign,arguably oppressive,domination

In what way do you consider locally democratically elected representatives to constitute foreign oppressive domination?

Dr Galen

This is not a Politics Forum thread really. Try one of the Regional forums perhaps?

Cheers

DrG