As Prince Edward County works on a Tourism Management Plan to deal with the influx of summer visitors to the area, Quinte Conservation is making its own changes.
All of Quinte Conservation’s properties in the County saw an increase in use last summer as people looked for easy day trips during the COVID-19 pandemic.
CAO Brad McNevin says traffic, parking, overcrowding and littering were just some of the problems they encountered and led them to shut down Little Bluff Conservation Area.
On Thursday, McNevin told Prince Edward County Committee of the Whole that they’ll be increasing enforcement this year.
“We have provincial offences officers on staff with the ability to ticket people for many offences and we are unfortunately going to be forced to take this action because of some of the conduct observed over the past few years, not just in 2020.”
They’ll also be making improvements to parking and their payment systems.
McNevin would also like to see some coordination between groups.
“Additional items that we are interested in assisting with include the development of a communications plan with Prince Edward County staff and provincial parks staff so that we are all aware when different locations are at capacity so that visitors do not get sent to places that are closed or have also reached capacity.”
McNevin spoke to the Committee of the Whole in support of the County’s proposed Tourism Management Plan.
The plan has been sent back to County staff for some tweaking before council accepts it.
