Historical beach concerns eased

The Mersey Heritage Society’s worries have been eased after president, Craig Chandler spoke with the provincial government concerning two Queens County Beaches.

The provincial government purchased Carters Beach and Wobamkek Beach at the end of March.

“Our biggest concern is that those resources are protected but also the people using the property don’t disturb anything,” said Chandler.

The purchase totals 70 hectares of land.

The Mersey Heritage Society surveyed and recorded an archeological site just behind the beaches in 2005, said Chandler.

“We were looking at doing some more work possibly this year,” he continued, “so we were just making sure that the Department of Natural Resources were aware that those resources were there.”

He said there are many stories about First Nations artifacts being in that property, but no documentation at present. He added he feels assured the land will stay safe after speaking with the provincial government.

He said right now the province still needs to gather information and look at the natural resources.

The next step for the Mersey Heritage Society is to do some testing on the site they have recorded, he said. Before that can happen they need to fundraise so they can hire a professional archeologist.

He estimated they would need $2,500.

“We would ideally I guess we’d like to do it in the fall but there’s no great rush,” he commented.

There are three areas on the 70 hectares the society are interested in looking at.