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Parlee Beach Provincial Park is one of New Brunswick’s premiere attractions, drawing an average of 500,000 visitors each year. As a result, the beach and park are well-managed to provide superior visitor experiences, services and facilities. Throughout the summer the beach is manually cleaned of garbage, debris and seaweed. Visitors have come to expect a full service facility that caters to their needs. The park provides camping, restaurant, canteen, souvenir, and recreational facilities.
In addition to being a major tourist attraction: the beach, infrastructure and man-made dunes are serving to protect surrounding communities from sea level rise. Charles O’Neill suggests in his document, Structural Methods for Controlling Coastal Erosion, that “protective beaches” can be “…very effective at reducing the amount of wave energy reaching upland areas of the shore.” It is evident that Parlee Beach Provincial Park is the lone parcel of significant, non-residential land in Pointe-du-Chêne and it serves as an essential erosion control structure for the area. Without this protection, the impacts could be more severe on the cottage and residential community of Pointe-du-Chêne than the present rate of salt water intrusion.
Due to the current slope of the beach and dunes, there is a risk of the dunes being breached as was nearly the case in 2000. A complete breach of the dunes would cause increased flooding and damage to the park and local community. To reduce the damage to the dunes during winter storms and to improve the efficiency of beach maintenance, the department proposes adjustments to the typical beach nourishment program.
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