‘Enjoy the amenities in your own city’: Surrey councillors urge people to soak up sun close to home

SURREY (NEWS 1130) — With summer-like weather and recent hints from the province that restrictions will soon ease, a weekend trip to the beach may be tempting.

But two Surrey councillors are urging people to find a way to soak up the sun close to home.

Linda Annis and Brenda Locke both say the prospect of crowds flocking to Crescent Beach is worrisome.

“I hope people will stay away from the hot spots,” Annis says.

“We really, really need to make sure that people that don’t live in Crescent Beach aren’t going down there,” Annis says.

“The parks that we should be using are the parks that are close to our homes right now. We shouldn’t be hopping in the car, driving to areas like Crescent Beach, where traffic congestion will be a problem and so will people congestion.”

Traffic control measures have been in place at Crescent Beach since the Easter weekend and there are currently no plans to change that.

Once the parking lot is full, only residents will be allowed to drive in.

If you don’t distance at Crescent Beach, you may be warned.

“Park Ambassadors and bylaw [officers] are out there monitoring the situation.” – @brendalockebc

Also, City of #SurreyBC says vehicle access to Crescent Beach will be closed when the parking lot is full. pic.twitter.com/qjBgJr9IKu

— Tim James (@_TimJames) May 9, 2020

Locke hopes people from nearby municipalities will resist the urge to travel to outdoor destinations in Surrey.

“Stay in your own locale and enjoy the amenities in your own city,” she says.

Bylaw officers will be visiting parks in Surrey this weekend to make sure people are physically distancing and aren’t playing any team sports.

A statement from the city says people have been generally cooperative when it comes to spacing out.

“Our experience is that the majority of people have been taking personal responsibility and are following physical distancing measures on their own. In the rare instances where physical distance has not been observed, the public have voluntarily complied when asked, and no further action was required,” it reads.

The COVID-19 Compliance and Enforcement Team will be patrolling busy areas throughout the weekend to ensure that safe physical distancing measures continue to be observed. Stay home if you're sick and If you're getting fresh air, keep your distance. pic.twitter.com/3yhhhpi1oj

— City of Surrey (@CityofSurrey) May 9, 2020

Both councillors urge people to visit less popular places where physical distancing can be maintained.

“Surrey is the city of parks, we’ve got more than 300 parks throughout the city,” Annis says.

“I’m sure people can find a place that they can enjoy outdooors, and stay within their family unit and still maintain physical distancing,” says Locke.