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ARICHAT - The head of a community campaign to secure upgrades at a popular Isle Madame beach made a formal presentation on the issue to the June meeting of Richmond Municipal Council's Committee of the Whole. 

Arichat business owner Lisa Boudreau founded the Save Pondville Beach Provincial Park campaign in early May, immediately gaining support among Isle Madame residents and attracting over 900 followers to the campaign's Facebook page. 

Boudreau's presentation came nine days before the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Renewables (DNRR) held a community engagement session at the nearby Rocky Bay Irish Hall, as the first step in developing a management plan for Pondville Beach that is expected to be completed and released to the public this fall. 

During her 15-minute presentation in the early stages of the meeting, Boudreau addressed several concerns that have come up during the spring campaign and for several years prior to the campaign's launch. These included the deterioration of the Pondville Beach wharf, coastal erosion issues that have damaged the beach's dunes, and a lack of accessibility to the shoreline. Boudreau suggested that the municipality consider examining funding options for infrastructure that would allow wheelchair-bound residents to reach the Pondville shoreline, pointing to similar developments in another provincially-run Richmond County beach, Point Michaud, and the Inverness Provincial Beach on Cape Breton's western coast as examples. 

Following the presentation, Richmond Warden Amanda Mombourquette assured Boudreau that the county is happy to work with her campaign as a partner in securing DNRR-led improvements to the well-used Pondville Beach Provincial Park. 

Other issues that arose during the June 12 meeting of Richmond council's Committee of the Whole included several grant requests from community organizations, correspondence from the Isle Madame Volunteer Fire Department seeking the county's help in the removal of excess brush from local fields, and a lengthy discussion on the proper administration of public question periods that are slated to take place during council's regular monthly meetings and the meetings of council's Committee of the Whole.