Some residents who live near Parlee Beach in Shediac say their once beloved beach is getting a bad name, with some fearing poor water quality is keeping tourists away.
“It’s tainted” said resident Bill Ross.
Ross, who lives right beside the beach’s parking area, said he’s been taking pictures of the Parlee Beach parking lots all summer and for the most part, he says the overflow parking area at the beach has had more seagulls parked than cars.
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“From my observation and my experience of being here and watching the parking lots in the middle of summer when it’s 30 degrees and it’s a beautiful day to be at the beach there are a lot of people that are not here,” Ross said.
He’s convinced that’s because word has gotten out to tourists about the beach’s ongoing poor water quality issues.
“It’s detrimental to tourism, it’s detrimental to the business in Shediac,” he said.
Often deemed the most popular beach in the province, Parlee Beach has been dealing with issues since last summer when it was plagued by reports that human and animal waste in the water posed a health risk. But those flocking to the beach weren’t always warned about the problem.
Last month, the provincial government said it would adopt a new water monitoring protocol that follows federal guidelines, but Ross says the reputation of the beach has already been hurt.
The town’s mayor, Jacques LeBlanc agrees.
“I think the name, the brand has been tarnished a bit,” LeBlanc said.
WATCH: The New Brunswick and Federal government have decided to jointly fund a solution to the issue of poor water quality in the Shediac Bay area.
LeBlanc said concrete tourism numbers won’t be out until sometime in September, but he says tourism traffic in the town itself appears to be up this year.
“They are definitely up from last year and we have had a great summer and Mother Nature has been very positive and we are very grateful for what we have seen in the Shediac area,” he said.
Even with that boost for Shediac, Ross says, “Maybe they are coming in the same numbers but they are not coming to Parlee Beach.”
Despite requests from Global News, the province has yet to release any information about tourism numbers at the beach this summer.
“A lot of people are disturbed that after this length of time that nothing has been done to clean up the water,” Ross said.
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LeBlanc said he plans to hold the province accountable to not only clean up the beach starting this fall, but also to help clean up the beach’s image in the years to come.
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The best way to do that he says is to have Parlee certified as a “blue flag beach,” an environmental designation requiring strict water quality standards
“But it is not easy to get the certification of a blue flag beach,” LeBlanc said.
Getting that certification is years and millions of dollars in clean up away, LeBlanc said, and at this point, Ross says even the locals are apprehensive to dip their toes in the water.
“I don’t think that I have been in the water over my knees once this summer,” Ross said.
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