Peterborough County to tackle garbage pileup, safety issues along James A. Gifford Causeway

Garbage along the James A. Gifford Causeway has been a growing concern for area residents of Bridgenorth and Ennismore and .Peterborough County council is now aiming to tackle the littering as well as safety in the area.

Last month, Bridgenorth resident, Brad Sinclair, told county council he was disgusted my the amount of litter he saw along the rocks and floating in the water. For many, the causeway is a popular fishing site.

“I was shocked and I counted over 40 Styrofoam discarded worm containers, 1 adult diaper, and water bottles,” said Sinclair.

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READ MORE: Peterborough county council examining options to curb littering along James Gifford Causeway 

During Peterborough County’s council meeting on Wednesday, Director of Public Works, Chris Bradley, introduced a report to tackle littering and outlined measures like using a bylaw enforcement officer.

“Passing bylaws, putting into place a bylaw enforcement process at the county, we currently don’t have one so it would involve us either contracting out or hiring or our own bylaw enforcement officers so there’s a number of different ways that we can look at coming up with a solution,” said Bradley.

A motion from Selwyn Township deputy mayor Sherry Senis, which was approved, pushed to increase enforcement and education and add clearer signage about littering. In addition, her motion would limit anglers’ access along the causeway.

READ MORE: Recreational activity on Okanagan river becoming clean-up burden

“I believe there are two issues that we have to deal with: one is litter and the other is safety. So, my motion incorporated the safety issue, looking to have no trespassing from the beginning of the guardrail to the end of the guardrail, on both sides, and that fishing would be allowed on the ends of the causeway. It’s a compromise,” said Senis.

Staff says the compromise comes following incidents of people walking in front of causeway traffic.

Senis hopes to see the new rules in place by the next fishing season.