There is no dispute now that Victoria Beach is completely closed as of June 16, 2020.
Bright and early town staff were moving the fence from the five metre distance from the boardwalk and placing the fence directly against the boardwalk.
Today’s Northumberland tried to get comment from Cobourg Mayor John Henderson.
Henderson did tell Today’s Northumberland the town clerk is preparing a report on the beach for Council on June 22 but “currently status quo on the fencing and signage at this point.”
The beach was closed with 2,000 feet of fencing on June 5, with signage along the fenceline and to the entrance to the boardwalk on Division Street.
The removal of the five metre pathway may have been a result of a incident that happened on Monday, June 15, 2020 along the beach.
Tamara Ugolini had an appointment in downtown Cobourg on Monday, and thinking the splash pad was open, her husband and their three young children went down to use it – only to find out it was closed.
With the beach fenced off, along with the play structures, the father and three children started to play in the area between the fence and boardwalk.
A short time later a by-law officer approached and told them the beach/sand was off limits.
Ugolini met up with her family and tried out the splash pad confirming it wasn’t open.
“Along the way we had met some other people who were voicing some concerns regarding the ridiculousnous of parks being closed down for children and there wasn’t a lot of space for people, especially living in apartments and condos to do anything with their children.”
By that time, her children had made their way into the sand and started playing when the by-law officer once again arrived.
Ugolini said, “there isn’t actually a by-law that prevents anyone from going onto the beach.”
The by-law officer then referenced the trespass to property act, but Ugolini said they weren’t trespassing.
“We were clearly within the defined the lines of where it was fenced off and where it wasn’t.”
“This closure seems to be leading to more questions rather than definitive answers in terms of who is acting lawfully.”
Ugolini called the incident “anti-climatic” but stated moving the fence back a day after has likely played a role.
Cobourg resident Patricia Pratt who regularly walks along the boardwalk said she agrees with moving the fence back to the boardwalk.
“When I saw where the fence was, I thought that empty space with the sand – I thought a lot of people are going to bring their kids there. I love the kids and think they should have fun – however I could see it getting crowded in that little space. How could they distance?”
To this point, Pratt has agreed with councils decisions.
“Obviously we’ve never had anything like this happen before. But I think they’ve done all the right things and the fact that there is so little COVID-19 here shows that all our people have been very, very good and very, very careful and we’ve had good leadership.”
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
