The Resort Village of Lumsden Beach has been struggling to manage a unique challenge in the last couple of years.
Mayor Ross Wilson says they can’t handle the crowds of people that visit the beach about 40 minutes northwest of Regina on hot weekends.
“We’re small with narrow roads, very limited parking,” Wilson said. “we’ve had to hire Commissionaire’s to restrict parking in the beach parking lot because it jams up.
“Safety wise, we’ve had situations that were so bad, I couldn’t have gotten an emergency vehicle near the beach if I needed to.”
Wilson doesn’t blame people for wanting to sit by the water on a hot day, but is now calling on the province to build a new beach along Last Mountain Lake to help alleviate the problem.
He says the lake has plenty of room for a new beach.
“It’s 60km long, surely we could build some additional beaches,” Wilson said. “Don’t need cottages, don’t need buildings, don’t need any amenities, just a sand beach and a swimming area. Even at our beach, all we have is porta-potties, we have no change room or anything like that, we have no campground.
“It doesn’t require a lot, just a road to get to the shoreline and lots of parking.”
Wilson says aside from a community store, the amenities simply aren’t available to support the droves of people who visit his community on hot weekends.
Wilson adds he has taken this idea to the provincial government. The province has indicated the situation is on their radar, but encourage all residents to visit the province’s 36 provincial parks as well as a number of recreational sites.
