THE Coogee Beach Surf Life Saving Club says an area of Cockburn Sound set aside for water skiing is not being used by those its intended for, while other groups are technically breaking the law every time they enter it.

In the 1990s a four square kilometre stretch of water along Coogee Beach was set aside  for a commercial jet-ski business. The business closed after a year or two but the restriction remain, meaning only  jet-skiers, water skiers and personal boats are supposed to access the area.

But Cockburn Labor MP Fran Logan says a heap of organisations are using the area and he wants the department of transport to rezone it and push the water-skiers further south to Henderson.

Mr Logan says water-skiers are discouraged from using the area anyway, because the only nearby boat ramp is on the far side of Woodman Point.

“To access via a ramp you have to walk all the way to the end of Woodman Point and enter the water there, and unsurprisingly, no one does that”.

• Cockburn MLA Fran Logan and Surf Life Saving club founding member Daryl Smith want a water-ski area pushed further south in Cockburn Sound. Photo by Ottoline Spearman

Mr Logan has written to WA transport minister Dean Nalder asking that as part of an ongoing aquatic users review, the area be redesignated as Multi-Purpose Water Sports Use.

He says this will give groups such as the Jervoise Bay Sailing Club, Perth Kite Racing, the Fremantle Outrigger Canoe Club and the Cockburn Naval Cadets the green light to continue using the beach.

Daryl Smith, member of the Coogee Progress Association, founding member of the Coogee Beach Surf Life Saving Club, and part of the Woodman Point Reserve Advisory Committee agrees.

“All groups use the area, and this causes a lot of conflict,” Mr Smith says.

“The space should instead be designated for multipurpose use”.

by OTTOLINE SPEARMAN