It appears a steep increase in fines is on the way for people who break the law at Sauble Beach.
South Bruce Peninsula council voted to increase fines for offences committed on the beach, bumping littering fines to $600 and to $400 for barbecuing on the beach, or bringing a dog on the beach between June 1 and Labour Day. Those penalties are up from the current fine of $120 for each offence.
Mayor Janice Jackson says the increases are a direct response to behaviour witnessed over the Canada Day long weekend when large amounts of garbage were left on the beach and strewn about.
The increases still need to go before the Crown Attorney's Office in Owen Sound for approval, but Jackson says she's not expecting any push-back from the Crown because the new fines mirror that of council's current fine for dumping garbage on a roadside.
"We expect them to approve that, we already have one littering by-law that has a $600 fine attached to it," says Jackson. "I don't think there will be any issue with barbecues or dogs on the beach."
Jackson says town by-law officers and the OPP beefed up enforcement at Sauble Beach over the Civic Holiday long weekend, and the crowds stayed well behaved.
"The atmosphere at Sauble was just overall generally wonderful, everybody was really happy, they enjoyed the warm weather and the water," says Jackson. "There were no issues with drinking on the beach and garbage everywhere and the things we faced [Canada Day] long weekend."