Police in Prince Edward County and Sandbanks Provincial Park officials met this week as the busy summer season gets underway at the park.
OPP Staff Sergeant John Hatch is detachment commander in the County.
Hatch tells Quinte News he thought it would be a good idea for police, fire and emergency services, and municipal officials to meet ahead of what they think will be a busy summer.
He commended the park for instituting a pass system to help avoid traffic congestion.
He compared it to buying a seat at a hockey game.
“And it’s the same idea with going to the Sandbanks now. And I know it upset a couple of the local people but from a traffic congestion perspective, if the park was full, people couldn’t get any passes so they went somewhere else.”
Hatch explained that fire and emergency services were at the meeting because in the past few years there have been drownings at Sandbanks Park.
“In 2019 the OPP went to 129 calls for service to the Sandbanks that summer. In 2020 it was 80 and last year it was only 62. So from a policing perspective we aren’t being called there as much.”
