Throughout the discussion about Cabot Head Road, one voice seems to have been largely missing—the voice of the people who have loved this place for decades but who, with the passing of time, can no longer make a seven-kilometre walk.
I’m in my 70s and, unless something changes, there is a good chance I have already made my last trip to Cabot Head Lighthouse. I know I’m not alone. Northern Bruce Peninsula is largely a retirement community, and many of us who have enjoyed Cabot Head for decades are now at the stage of life where a seven-kilometre walk simply isn’t possible. If ordinary public access disappears, many long-time residents will quietly lose something that has been part of their lives for years.
To me, that is a profoundly sad outcome for our community. Not because people are unwilling to walk, but because they no longer can.
Many of today’s seniors first visited Cabot Head when they were raising young families. We returned with our children and later with our grandchildren. We helped support this community and its roads through decades of paying municipal taxes.
We never imagined that one day we might outlive our ability to reach it.
It seems unfortunate that, just as age makes many of us dependent on a vehicle, the ability to continue visiting one of the Peninsula’s best-known landmarks may disappear.
I read Ruth Goodman’s recent letter with interest. I agree that Cabot Head’s natural environment deserves careful protection. Where we differ is not over the goal, but over whether ordinary residents should lose access in order to achieve it.
Ruth wrote that “the consensus is clear—no public vehicular access.” I don’t believe the consultation supports such a broad conclusion. The survey asked people to respond to a proposed model that had already been developed. It did not seriously examine other reasonable alternatives that might have protected the environment while still allowing residents to continue visiting Cabot Head.
There is one practical reality that also deserves consideration. The road is already being used along its full length by certain authorized users, who are able to travel it safely by exercising care around the two damaged sections. That suggests the issue is not whether the road can function, but how public access should be managed.
What seems to be missing is a serious look at practical middle-ground solutions. Seasonal managed access during the busiest summer months, controlled access when traffic becomes heavy, or other sensible management approaches could protect the environment without permanently excluding a large part of the community.
I also don’t believe the consultation really gave residents an opportunity to consider those kinds of alternatives. Most of the discussion focused on a choice between a restricted-access trail and the status quo, rather than exploring practical compromises that many people might have supported.
To me, this doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing decision. Also, the decision being made today won’t just affect this summer or the next few years. It will affect how future generations experience Cabot Head. I hope that future includes grandparents taking their grandchildren to the lighthouse, just as so many of today’s grandparents once took their own children.
Ruth, I hope you’ll think about the many people in our community who simply cannot walk seven kilometres to the lighthouse. Many are your neighbours. Like you, they have loved Cabot Head for decades. They care just as deeply about protecting it. They simply hope to continue visiting while they still can.
Perhaps, after reflecting on that, you might support keeping this conversation alive as our community chooses a new Council this fall. Once ordinary public access is lost, it is unlikely to return. That is why I hope the next Council will take one more thoughtful look at practical alternatives before deciding the future of Cabot Head Road.
I hope we can find a solution that protects Cabot Head’s natural environment while ensuring that growing older does not mean losing the opportunity to experience a place that has meant so much to generations of Peninsula residents.
Respectfully,
Kevin Doyle, Dorcas Bay
