Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Matthews
I always am surprised a canoe club can effectively commandeer parts of a lake. Any lake.
Doesnt seem logical to me that any public park land can get swallowed up for a special or specific interest, and benefit a private members club.
|
Those canoe clubs have been there for at least a century, and though they are private clubs, they do allow use of the lake for boaters that might not have access otherwise.
For example, many years ago my Dad bought a canoe and a family membership to Banook Canoe Club so that we could keep the canoe on site at Banook, and just walk over to the club if we wanted to go out on the lake, which we did many times. We were not well-off financially, but this gave us a chance to use the lake that we wouldn't have had otherwise. I'm not sure if the clubs still offer this type of service, but it was really good for us - I also actually learned to swim there through the lessons offered by the club.
As long as there are public access points at places like Lions beach, Birch Cove, Grahams Grove, Brookdale, etc., I can't see a problem with the use of the lake by private clubs. For that matter, there are many homes surrounding the lake that don't allow public lake access, but nobody is complaining about them.
As far as events go, they can be inconvenient for the locals while the event is on, but they bring a lot to the area in terms of recognition and financial spin-off for local businesses. Lots of events in Halifax and other cities involve temporary use of public spaces, so again I'm having a hard time seeing a problem here.
Threaded Mode