Beaches Strategy Updates

Beaches are an important part of life not only within the Municipality of Barrington, but in Nova Scotia as a whole. Tourism Nova Scotia identifies the seacoast as one of its biggest tourism strengths, people choose to come to Nova Scotia to explore our seacoast, beaches and ocean. Beaches provide many recreational opportunities for our residents and visitors. Boating, fishing, swimming, surfing, walking, beachcombing, bird-watching, playing and sunbathing are among the common activities our beachgoers enjoy. Many of our beaches provide unique habitats for a variety of plants and wildlife, including species at risk that depend on our beaches for their survival. Our beaches provide protection to residents living near the ocean by acting as a buffer against the high winds and waves of powerful storms. Finally, beaches also play an important role in the economy, as spending time at the beach is among the fastest-growing nature-based outdoor activities for visitors to Nova Scotia. 

For this reason, the Municipality has developped a Beaches Strategy which includes five strategic outcomes. These five outcomes compliment one another and addressing them as equal priorities will achieve the strategy’s vision: Our beaches are welcoming, accessible, clean, safe and healthy, today and for future generations to come.

Our five strategic outcomes for our beaches are:

  • Everyone can experience a day at the beach;
  • Our beaches are vibrant, healthy and clean;
  • Our infrastructure compliments the beach and nature of the beach and is respected & maintained;
  • Our beaches are easy to find and help to tell our history, heritage and habitat; and
  • There is collaborative stewardship of our beaches.

For the full strategy click here.

Report Card

In an effort to keep everyone informed of our progress, Staff prepares a "report card" every few months to outline the recent and ongoing work.

 

Here is an update on each action item:

Everyone can enjoy a day at the beach

With a growing, ageing and increasingly diverse population, it’s very important to manage our beach environment so that everyone can experience a day at the beach.

 

Our beaches are vibrant, healthy and clean

The value of a natural beach environment is often overlooked and provides significant social and economic benefits in addition to beach ecological values. The Municipality of Barrington is fortunate to have 6 naturally beautiful, white sand beaches. Maintaining these vibrant, healthy and clean beaches is important.

 

Our infrastructure compliments the beach and nature of the beach and is respected and maintained

Each one of our beaches are unique and therefore should be managed with specific characteristics in mind. Not every beach needs infrastructure in place to improve the quality of the beach experience.

Since August 2020, we have been working with WSP to put our visions of the potential beach enhancements on paper. In September, we began working on the 2D conceptual designs of the enhancements we had in mind for Crow Neck, North East Point and Stoney Island beaches and in late October, we received 3D renderings, which were based on the feedback we received from Council and Staff. In January 2021, Council approved the following conceptual planss.

The approval of the conceptual designs is an important first step under this action item so that we can ensure we have a unified vision to share with our stakeholders. These plans are the result of numerous discussions throughout the last few years on possible enhancement to these beaches. These are still conceptual plans which simply puts the Muinicipality's thoughts on paper.

 

Our beaches are easy to find and help to tell our history, heritage and habitat

Enabling our residents and visitors to easily find our beaches will help make the user experience that much better. Sharing a bit of our story adds to that experience and helps to educate people on their surroundings and the habitat that share our beaches. Through the use of QR Codes, we can connect visitors and residents to relevant information, videos, resources (wildlife, flora, fauna) that pertain to each beach and surrounding area.

 

There is a collaborative stewardship of our beaches

The beaches within the Municipality of Barrington are enjoyed by and provide benefits to many people. Residents, visitors, businesses, government/non profit organizations and wildlife either directly or indirectly benefit from our beautiful white sand beaches. It is important that we work together to ensure they are maintained and healthy for generations to come.