Issue 481 – Spectacular kite championships to be held in Westbury?

THIS summer could see a spectacular national stunt kite flying championship held on land at the White Horse.

Competitive kite flying organisation STACK UK hope that they will be able to use the site in one of the rounds in the 2011 STACK National Championships in July.
Keith Griffiths, national director of STACK UK explained, “During the summer we run a national championship consisting of three or five rounds of competition – this would be one of those rounds. Historically we’ve always gone to kite festivals and tagged on to those, but those festivals are reducing, as funding is being reduced.”
As many locals will already know, the location is perfect for flying kites. “It’s a good flat site, it’s got no major obstructions with trees or buildings, and it’s high up with a constant reasonable wind,” explained Keith.
“On the competition side of things it’s all about flying your kite with technical prowess, skill, and choreography. It’s certainly something worth coming to see, it’s great viewing and there will be space for people to fly their own kites. We may well be able to organise less formal competitions that the public could be invited to.”
STACK UK paid a visit to Westbury on Thursday 3rd February in a bid to ascertain the suitability of the site. During their visit they met with members of the town council, and also paid a visit to the White Horse, where they measured a kite flying arena space and took a full risk assessment. Following this, they have written to say that the proposed land is suitable for national competition standards and stated they would like to hold a heat of their national championships in Westbury.
Local resident Leander Morales, who has been helping STACK with their assessment of the location said, “I think this is great news for the town. I really hope the local groups, organisations and councils can work together to pull this off. I’ll certainly support the event!”
Plans for the event are only in the initial stages, with the permission of organisations such as the town council, Wiltshire Council, English Heritage, and the MOD required for the event to go ahead. The town council was due to discuss the event at their meeting on Monday 14th February.