Saugeen Shores council is being urged to step up the grading of one of the municipality's most popular beaches.
Jeff Page says he has been coming to the area for 40 years and notices the Gobles Grove beach south of Port Elgin has been shrinking, in part because of rising water levels and because the municipality stopped grading a portion of the beach, which has allowed grasses to take over, leaving the area swampy.
He says Saugeen Shores is known for its beaches and the municipality needs a consistent approach to maintenance or it risks losing tourism dollars to communities with better maintained beaches.
Saugeen Shores council received a petition with about 40 signatures seeking expanded grading of the Gobles Grove beach
Deputy Mayor Luke Charbonneau says council will be looking at updating its beach maintenance policy as early as September, but they need to make sure it's a long-term vision for the beaches.
"We need a more permanent, more long-standing, more fixed policy that we consult about. Consult the experts, consult the community, come up with a good policy and then stick with it, not for one year or two years, but for 10 years or 20 years, because that's what it's going to take to have a beach that's in good shape," says Charbonneau.
