Norfolk County is aware of the Province’s plan to sell the Normandale beach.
The Province of Ontario owns this beach, however Norfolk County has maintained the property for more than a decade in order to provide continued public access to residents and visitors.
Maintaining public access to beaches and waterways should be a priority of all levels of government, and Norfolk County strongly supports the public’s ability to have continued access to Normandale beach and Lake Erie.
As such, Norfolk County’s preference is to maintain the current situation, with the beach remaining the property of the Province and maintenance remaining the responsibility of the County.
Norfolk County would also be open to purchasing the Normandale beach from the Province for a nominal fee in order to maintain public access.
The County does not support the idea of Norfolk taxpayers having to pay the Province to continue to access what should be a public space.
Given the County’s own appraisal of the property – which valued the land at $25,000 – Norfolk also questions the Province’s asking price of $300,000, and has requested the specifics of the appraisal. Those details, however, have not been shared by the Province.
The Province’s asking price for the property suggests the potential for development, however Norfolk’s planning department has raised a number of concerns about this possibility.
Development on the land would not only be unfortunate for those who value public access to beaches and lakes, but may not even be feasible.
Norfolk is happy to hear that our MPP is in support of keeping this beach open to the public and we hope to work with him on a solution that works for both the Province and residents.
In order to be transparent, Council has approved the release of in-camera documents related to the sale of the Normandale beach. The documents can be found below:
Report CS 20-38 – Proposed Property Acquisition
