The Town of Lockeport will do whatever they can to ensure, by any means possible, that the repairs be made to their beach’s damaged dunes, before disaster strikes.
Despite many positive developmental steps forward for Lockeport, it still remains threatened by a possible breach of the beach wall with future storms.
Last year when the town’s streets flooded when a wave of water broke through during the tropical storm season, mayor for the town, Darian Huskilson was immediately on the phone to the provincial government, asking for their aid.
Throughout the year he attempted to get a meeting with the minister for the Department of Natural Resources to no avail but last week Huskilson took the issue into his own hands.
“I drove down to the legislature and had to force a meeting with Minister John MacDonnell,” said Huskilson. The minister accepted the impromptu meeting.
“Even though people told me all year that they were working behind the scenes, he didn’t even know about it,” stated Huskilson.
He added that the individuals working for the Department of Natural Resources has been great coming down and trying to suggest possible solutions but the minister didn’t even realize that Lockeport was an island or that there was only one access in or out of the town.
Despite being told by the minister that there would be a subsequent meeting, the mayor received an email shortly after saying that there would be no meeting forthcoming in the near future.
“The community is usually well received by the province,” said Huskilson. “But nobody wants to assist us in this.”
He said that the solution would be to place armour stone along the beach wall to protect it from a breach.
In the 1980’s similar erosions were weakening the beach wall and armour stone was used in weakened places and today those spots remain strong.
He said that although there are resources in place, in case of imminent danger, the beach wall needs to be fixed before a storm goes through the small town.
“We need to know the beach is safe and that we can get in and out,” he said.
A motion was recently moved by council that because of the storm surges have eroded soft areas of the dune structure on Crescent beach posing an extraordinary threat for access on and off the island that the town will ensure ‘by which ever means possible’ that dune structure is completed.
The motion added that the town’s residents are not second-class residents of Nova Scotia and it should be a priority of the province to provide security to the residents.
“The town council will not sit by and allow the province not to act and leave us susceptible,” said Huskilson.
