‘Keep the kayaks’: 1770 residents rally as Gladstone Regional Council puts seizure notices on popular beachfront vessels
A Central Queensland beachside community has been left stunned after council workers placed seizure notices on kayaks which locals have comfortably left at the water’s edge “forever”. Here’s why the council says they’ve got to go.
Gladstone
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A Central Queensland beachside community has been left stunned after council workers put seizure notices on kayaks which locals have comfortably left at the water’s edge “forever”.
Gladstone Regional Council placed the notices on vessels which line the stunning beachside at Seventeen Seventy, near Agnes Water - labelling them as abandoned and hazardous and giving the resident owners one week to remove them before they are seized.
Kayaks, stand-up paddleboards (SUPs), and surfboards have been left beachside by residents for as long as they can remember without fear of theft or damage, and they are often willingly lent to tourists and locals who don’t have access to their own.
Correspondence between one resident and the council, obtained by this publication, reveals the move was triggered following a complaint by a person tripping over a boat which was stored on the beachfront.
Gladstone Regional Council’s general manager (customer experience), Rob Huth, told the resident that the complainant also alerted the council to other boats and kayaks in the area which were “unsightly and seemingly abandoned”.
“Our officer has reported that he did not have enough notices to issue on the day and will return at a latter time to advise the remaining vessel owners,” Mr Huth said.
However, residents have hit back voicing their opposition and say the move was done without warning or consultation and it “strips away” the culture of the beachside community.
Seventeen Seventy resident Mandy McKeesick came out of the water after a swim on Tuesday to discover a notice had been left on her kayak.
She said when she spoke with a council officer, she received conflicting reasons as to why the council wanted the vessels removed.
Ms McKeesick said when she first moved to Seventeen Seventy, she was told that locals had stored their kayaks there “forever” and that the vessels added to the character and culture of the township.
“Storing kayaks here has been a tradition for over 30 years and allows people who would not otherwise be able to transport watercraft, to access a healthy and environmentally low-impact activity on the waterway,” Ms McKeesick said.
“They have become a culturally significant symbol of the area - to locals they represent the trusting and laid-back nature of their community; to visitors they are a colourful and iconic beachside feature.”
Ms McKeesick returned to the beach on Wednesday morning to raise concerns that some residents who were away may not be able to remove their vessels before the one-week deadline.
She said she was then asked if she could notify the community, rather than the correspondence coming from GRC.
Ms McKeesick said community members were upset there was no prior warning or consultation about the impound notices.
Mr Huth advised one resident that the council had approved a lease to a local club for a parcel of land to store kayaks.
Gladstone Regional Council Mayor Matt Burnett said he became aware of community concerns on Wednesday morning and he had since requested council staff to prepare a brief on the situation.
“I have been down to 1770 many times recently and was not aware that this was such an issue - I should get a brief back soon to better understand why this decision was made,” Mayor Burnett said.
Mr Burnett could not pre-empt whether the kayaks would be spared but said he hoped for a positive resolution shortly.
Residents were given until July 26 to remove the vessels.
A Change.Org petition has now been established to #keepthekayaks.
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