Mayor Danny Conway of St. George’s said he was nervous on Tuesday at Black Bank when seven or eight dirt bikes and quads were racing up and down the beach and the sand banks in the area.
“It was actually scary,” he said of the scene where an estimated one hundred people or so were taking advantage of the good weather and using the beach.
Conway said there is a big problem there and that while laws are in place against this type of activity, there doesn’t seem to be anyone to enforce it.
He said as far as he is aware, Black Bank Beach, which housed a provincial park at one time, is a provincial government jurisdiction.
Conway said he and his wife were out of a walk in the area at the time when the afternoon incident took place.
There were at least four dirt bikes and one all-terrain vehicle involved.
While the Town of Stephenville Crossing has Barachois Brook under its jurisdiction for issuing housing permits, it has nothing to do with Black Bank Beach and a town spokesperson said policing it would be the responsibility of the RCMP.
The RCMP confirmed that a complaint had been received about 9 p.m. on Tuesday that dirt bikes and all-terrain vehicles had been operating in and around the Black Bank Beach area alleging they were being driven dangerously and doing wheelies.
Police are investigating the complaint.
