The state of Sandbanks Provincial Park is disgraceful.

Riding bicycles and merely walking on the poorly marked and maintained paths is hazardous-for example,the plastic walkway at Dunes Beach starts as a ramp and ends as stairs to nowhere.

How is this safe and accessible for  all?

The explanatory signs, including warning signs  about steep drop offs and undertows,are in English only. It is offensive  in a country with two official languages, at a park where half the guests are french speaking Canadians,that signage is unilingual.

More effort has been put into blocking access to Lakeshore Beach from Lakeshore Lodge Road than in maintaining the Lakeshore Lodge site itself. It looks shabby, is poorly mown , has inadequate garbage cans, and as a bonus this year, no latrines, when for many years there were two portapotties on the site. People are defecating in the bushes, and not only at this location. Almost all the sites at Sandbanks have no or limited toilets. None have sanitizer-in fact, one sign says (in english only of course) that in case there is no soap or water to bring your own sanitizer!

In a pandemic year when every struggling mom and pop shop has to supply sanitizer and signage or face fines its outrageous that a government agency gets away with this lack of concern for us. Paths to the beach that have been used for generations by locals have been blocked off for manufactured reasons.

For example, the path to Lakeshore Beach has been fenced off because of “erosion”, erosion the park caused in the first place, by widening an age old path with huge blocks along the shoreline, not maintaining the poorly planned path after high water,then removing the blocks and destroying the path. Why? Sandbanks Provincial Park should be the jewel of Prince Edward County. Instead, it has become unsafe and unwelcoming for all.

Alida Biasutti