A walk through Victoria Park, along the beach and to the west pier to watch a glorious sunset on Monday, (June 24, 2025) revealed not only picturesque Cobourg – but a different side.
Garbage littered amongst the beautiful sandy beach.
Plastic water bottles in numerous places.
Tourists flock to Victoria Beach because of its beauty. It’s just unfortunate they can’t seem to find the garbage receptacles.
To be fair, there are likely more than a few locals who get in on the laziness of not disposing of garbage where it’s supposed to be.
But I’d like to think that people who live in Cobourg, value the beauty of the parks, the flowers along with the shoreline.
Beer cans ripped in half with jagged edges would surly rip open a child’s foot.
Out on the west pier it seemed to all hit home as a family of ducks swam by and had to divert their path for another plastic bottle carelessly tossed in the harbour.
One person takes it upon himself to do his best to clean up after others in Victoria Park, north of Queen Street.
But the saving grace most of the time that people may not see is the Parks Department staff who work tirelessly each day.
The full garbage receptacles will be emptied first thing in the morning.
Parks staff will be grooming the beach and cleaning all the garbage carelessly left behind by people to lazy to clean up after themselves.
With hundreds of people, sometimes thousands on weekends Parks staff may not stand out in a crowd, but they certainly are needed and appreciated by not only visitors that come to Cobourg along with citizens, but by individuals who just would like to take in the setting sun.
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
