Beach-goers can find summer at Wilkins Park again

The beach at Wilkins Park is part of Barrie’s summer again.

While some of the waterfront area is off limits to beach-goers during shoreline remediation, there’s plenty that isn’t and ready for residents near the bottom of Crimson Ridge Road in the city's south end.

“For the summer we were hoping to get done by June 15, which we did, so that will give the summer to the residents,” Dave Friary, the city’s operations director, said of the shoreline work. “They can rest assured that we will sort of hold off any further work until September. In September we’ll do a little bit more culvert work, some additional fencing, further up the creek, as well as cobblestone in the spit area as well, to preserve it and prevent erosion as well.

“We can tell residents they can enjoy what they have there for the summer and we’ll get back at it in the fall," he added. 

Right now, there is fencing, signs identifying no-go zones and educational signs, along with culvert work directing water away from the beach, away from the spit area, to preserve it for regeneration and ecological reasons.

Last April, after weeks of discussion, city council decided to keep as much of the beach available as possible for public use between June 15 and Sept. 15, as well as during shoreline remediation.

Kevin Rankin, Barrie’s manager of parks and forestry operations, said approximately 15 per cent of the sand area was included in the ecological restoration zone of the adjacent creek zone, where vegetation grows along the edge of a stream or lake.

“The creek shoreline was fenced and posted as ‘No Admittance’ to allow the area planted and seeded to regenerate and protect the sensitive creek shoreline edge,” he said.

So 85 per cent of the sand area is available to the public. 

“Yes, that is correct,” Rankin said. “Only the area beside Hewitt’s Creek was planted with native trees and shrubs; the rest was left in its original state.”

Council also approved a waterfront visitors parking pass program, for family and friends, should public health restrictions allow it. The program would apply to Wilkins Park. Five passes will be issued per household. There will also be no-parking signs in the Wilkins Park area, although vehicles will not be towed but rather ticketed and a written warning issued. 

The Wilkins Park shoreline contains a smaller beach along Kempenfelt Bay, located at the southeast end of Barrie’s waterfront, near the bottom of Crimson Ridge Road. It contains the end of Hewitt’s Creek, a designated cold-water fishery that empties into the bay. 

The shoreline and creek area were environmentally damaged by increased human use in the summer of 2020, as part of a significant increase in the city’s waterfront use due to changes in people’s outdoor activities. This was in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and provincial and local health regulations and restrictions.

City staff say approximately 75 to 100 people were observed at Wilkins Park and the small surrounding area during at least one period last summer. Physical distancing protocols suggest there should be a capacity of less than 50 people.

There were also concerns that wading and fishing in the creek impacts the habitat of the cold-water fishery, and that excessive human use has led to the deterioration of the vegetation in the beach and the immediate forested area.

Beach-goers using nearby wooded areas as washrooms was another complaint, along with an increase in parking within residential neighbourhoods adjacent to the waterfront.

There have been regeneration efforts taken previously there by the city, but continued overuse of the shoreline area of Wilkins Park reverses these efforts.