Early start keeps trainers happy

The Great Southern’s leading horse trainer can breathe a sigh of relief after the City of Albany council voted to keep a Middleton Beach horse-training area open from 5am.

Horse trainer Steve Wolfe said an original proposal to limit training times to just two hours from 7am could have forced him to move his business to Perth.

Mr Wolfe, who employs eight full-time staff and two apprentices to train about 30 horses on the beach each morning, said it would have threatened the viability of his business and forced him to cut staff.

“We make our living out of training horses down here and it’s just a bit of a sad thing that what’s happened is some of the amateurs that get down here from time to time don’t respect what goes on,” he said.

The City revealed in March that it would be conducting a review of the Middleton Beach training area after nearby residents and beach users complained about noise and horse faeces.

But Cr Mervyn Leavesley proposed an amended recommendation at Tuesday night’s meeting, saying many of the complaints related to the movement of horses within floats as they arrived and left the beach.

Mr Leavesley said the alternate recommendation, which would allow the training of horses between 5am and 9am, accommodated the needs of trainers who walked their horses to the beach.

Council will also advertise restrictions on the parking of horse floats and trailers on Griffiths and Hope Streets before 7am for public comment to counter noise issues.

“Many trainers actually walk to the beach,” Mr Leavesley said. “This industry has provided employment and income for 30-odd years.”

Deputy Mayor Dennis Wellington compared attempts to stop horses from exercising on the beach to a “nanny State gone berserk”.

“It’s a great atmosphere,” he said.

But Cr Ray Hammond disagreed, saying horses should not be allowed to exercise on the beach at all.

“We are facing a change of demographics in the area,” he said. “We’ve got to move ?forward.”