There has been a lot of heated debate over at the canadianwelcome blog about the issue of whether Chalk Lake should be open for everyone to use, not just the residents. Since I’m trying to bring all of the Chalk Lake posts over to this blog, I’ve selected parts of a number of the comments to get an overview of the question involved. As you can see from reading these excepts below, people feel quite strongly about this (in fact, a number had very fond childhood memories of going to the lake) and as an impartial observer, I can see both sides.
- There is no public access to Chalk Lake. The beach lot is administered and maintained by the Rapsey Subdivision Lot Owners Association for the sole benefit of the property owners in the Rapsey subdivision and their guests.
- If you have deeded access to Chalk Lake then fish your heart out. It’s a good practise for residents of the lake to monitor the fish population for size & quality. With limited algae & fish food it’s important to document your catches in the event of a declining population . The MNR can always restock if numbers get too low.
- l’ve researched the Lake at the Lands registry office in Whitby , it is assigned a pin number but my understanding is that it relates to right of way access to the Lake by the individual land owners but does not constitute actual owership of the lake. Therefore no one individual has a right to enforce whether you fish it or not.
- I hope that these people on chalk lake take really good care of this piece of heaven.
- It is a beautiful lake that I fished regularly with my long since departed father, years ago…great childhood memories.
- I must say it does sadden me to see one of God’s beautiful creations become a place where only a handful of people can enjoy. I pray one day someone with scads of money will buy up the entire place and open it to the children once more, wishful thinking to be sure.
- The needs of the many should out weigh the needs of the few
- Why should i have to drive 2 hours to spend some quality outdoor time with my family when there are areas so close to home.
- Chalk Lake is merely an example of a much bigger picture, our country is slipping quickly away from the people and into the hands of money and the government, a slippery slope indeed.
- I believe, because it’s a natural lake it should be enjoyed by all, it should be illegal for people to buy up land around natural wonders and hoard it for themselves.
- There should be a public park and access on these lakes for all to enjoy. If the Lake was paid for and made by the residents I would have no problem in it being private.
- Interesting that the public is not allowed on this lake and the Ministry of Natural Resources stocks this so called private lake with taxpayer dollars…
- How you would go about fishing the lake considering the lake is lined with cottages/houses and the areas that aren’t seem to be lined with with marsh and forest. which would be very difficult to launch a canoe or kayak as it would be far from the road to me the best bet is walk through the forest until u find a good enough spot from shore to fish cause i doubt any of these people will let you launch from their property. (note: the forest mentioned in this comment is also privately owned).
If I were one of the Chalk Lake property owners, I certainly wouldn’t want people traipsing through my land at all hours of the day to use the lake. And I don’t think the fault lies with the owners themselves. It was mentioned that this is one of many lakes with limited access to the public, so maybe the government should think about allowing some public access before selling all of the land around our lakes. Or is that too simplistic a solution?
For instance, near my house, there is a little park totally surrounded by houses, but there is an opening the width of a driveway to allow non-residents to use the park. Would something similar work for lake properties, or are there other problems that would result if the public were allowed access? What do you think?
