The first whine of the year
Well Pete Fisher has done it again. With a rewrite of his article of last year - Beach Woes in Cobourg (my paraphrase) the predictable response has happened. The first of many letters about the visitors ruining the beach for Cobourgers has appeared here. The writer complains about visitors taking over and the crush of visitors causing a safety hazard. If the writer had been following the MSM she would have been aware that in the middle of that crush, lasr weekend, a missing child alert was issued. The beach was cleared of swimmers and a search initiated in the water. The children were found and safety systems worked. So where's the cry for less people on the beach going to go when we have proved that safety measures work and works well. If the writer of the article wishes to have the Cobourg beach reserved for Cobourgers she should say so. If not then get up earlier in the morning and get a spot on the beach.
Unfortunately for the people who bought into the 'private' lifestyle that they think they have when they buy in Cobourg, private beach ownership is not on the list. In fact the Cobourg beach isn't an exclusive preserve of Cobourgers - it is a resource to be shared.
5 comments:
It is difficult to tell which is more disturbing, the inept handling of the situation by council and staff, or the public comments in the MSM and on sites like facebook about the situation.
this is an ugly side of Cobourg and one of the most disturbing elements of it is that these attitudes have passed now as acceptable to a younger generation, which can be viewed on various facebook postings.
the local insular attitude of racism and a feeling that as residents we "own the beach" is disheartening. We forget the federal and provincial grants that went into the creation of the beach, harbour and related areas and choose to only acknowledge our local tax dollars at work. We forget the provincial subsidies available for police services, the federal grants that cover summer jobs. Sorry folks, but dollars from across Canada and Ontario contributed to our local gem, so your argument that it is "ours" doesn't hold water.
To those of you spouting this hatred, misinformation and filth, hidden in fancy language i have one request - be open, you want a financial means test upon entry and a whites only sign posted at the 401 exit, just admit it and be open about it. If you are going to have these opinions, don't couch them behind this language, defend your opinion and let the rest of us call you what you are.
Below is the letter I had sent yesterday to Northumberland Today. It was unpublished.
==========================
Pete Fisher’s ‘viewpoint’ was one of the most puerile pieces I have ever read in Northumberland Today.
“Heads should roll”, he declared. “It was like a free-for-all in Victoria Park” and walking across Division Street “was a nightmare”. I recall reading this kind of mediocre schlock in college newspapers.
What was going on that caused Mr Fisher to wax apoplectic? It was “the sheer number of people visiting Cobourg” he explained.
What did they cause to happen? They overflowed the parking at the Yacht Club for a couple days. There was an extended line-up of women wanting to use the washroom. He referred to “the problem of tents, barbeques and garbage” and asserted that “there were hundreds of coolers and barbeques throughout the park every day.”
Wow, hundreds of coolers. “Heads should roll.” How dare people bring bulky plastic boxes to keep their picnic lunches cool. Just how petty can Pete Fisher get?
I biked throughout the park Tuesday and did not spot a single scorch mark on the lawn of the park. So much for visitor’s BBQs. This compares to several burn marks, oil marks, and other damage done to the lawn by the usual suspects, the Rotary-sponsored Ribfest last year.
Pete Fisher needs to develop some contextual perspective, and Northumberland Today needs to upgrade its reportage from the sophomoronic mediocrity that it dumps on the doorsteps of Cobourg & environs.
This compares to several burn marks, oil marks, and other damage done to the lawn by the usual suspects, the Rotary-sponsored Ribfest last year.
More Ribfest damage here
As a resident of Lakeport, I am privileged to have free access to Wicklow Beach about 4kms west of our home. Yes, it's primarily a gravel, rather than a pristine, town-preened, gigantic stretch of summer sand; but the beach is maintained by Alnwick-Haldimand Township regularly, and there is little in the way of littering or dog crap, etc., because the relatively few people who go there are usually quite considerate. During this recent heat wave, I noticed a car with Maine license plates parked at Wicklow Beach. I had an opportunity to speak with the middle-aged couple who owned it. They were staying in COBOURG, but after visiting the beach there, and knowing something about coastlines, they realized that the northern shore of Lake Ontario stretches considerably east of that town. A check of area maps showed Wicklow Beach, so they took the drive out and loved it. My wife and I love it too, principally because it is used by few people, but gives you a wide expanse of beach area (nearly 0.5 kms long), and the same, direct access to the same, exact water in which Cobourg residents ... and some visitors ... frolic.
My point, Ben, is this: there are probably too many Cobourg beach-goers who stick to the old paradigm that they MUST have that same amount of personal space they enjoyed five, 10 or maybe 20 years ago. But times, populations, and (thankfully) tourism have changed, bringing all those additional sun-lovers to Victoria Beach. Add unseasonably hot and humid weather, and double the number of people per square meter of sand. Further add local newspaper content that is designed to inflame a certain number of Cobourg residents (" it's our beach, always has been our beach, and there just isn't room for those pesky weekenders and seasonal campers, etc., if we have to be within touching distance of them), and revolution is once again in the air!
Ben is right ... if you want YOUR spot on the beach, get your arse out of bed a little earlier in the day, and hike on down to YOUR waterfront.
Oh, by the way ... don't bother coming east to Wicklow Beach. We don't welcome whiners here either, and it would be only a matter of time before started complaining about ... well, something
And I'll add to this one too. Dollars to doughnuts all the traffic on Sunday (which I passed on William on my way to the woefully underattended Estival in PH) was the sandcastle competition. Specifically, the fact that it made the CTV local news on Saturday. Traffic was backed up at every traffic light all the way down.
Post a Comment