A7

By James Mallory

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Youghall Beach has closed its services for another season.

Gerald Pettigrew, operations manager for the City of Bathurst and the K.C. Irving Regional Centre, said services at Youghall closed on Aug. 16 after an eight week period of lifeguard and washroom services.

"We're closed for service but the public can still go use the beach," he said. "We don't give lifeguard service now and washroom facilities are locked up unless there's special events going on."

The beach officially opened in mid-June when summer students were hired to do lifeguard duties and city employees were on hand for washroom and beach maintenance. Mr. Pettigrew said the beach wasn't as well used as previous years due to rainy weather.

"When we did get a nice day, it was well used but as you know our summer was wet and any time the temperature doesn't get to 25 degrees (Celsius), it's not beach weather. People like to go in the water when it gets above 25. We didn't have a hot summer but it was utilized by people as far as walking," noted Mr. Pettigrew.

He said the gates will be left open and the public is still free to use the beach. He said services will be provided for special events such as the community college student welcome day this Thursday.

As for beach maintenance, Mr. Pettigrew said a volunteer Christian group did a beach sweep at Youghall earlier this summer. He said in the past, a beach sweeping machine was used to clean the beach but that has been done away with due to rising costs and other factors.

"What we do now is just have a physical clean-up of the beach...They don't use beach cleaners anymore because they take too much debris from the beach."

He noted that in recent years, community groups have taken it upon themselves to take ownership of local parks by providing maintenance. He said that type of situation may be beneficial for local beaches in the future.

"I think the city is on the right track in general on park maintenance. A lot of parks are taken over by community people – like Centennial Park right now there's a committee running that park...Eventually, I believe Youghall Beach will get there, too," concluded Mr. Pettigrew.