Trespassing has been a main concern in Elora at the Elora Quarry Conservation Area for a number of years. The Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) is trying to put a stop to that.

Cam Linwood, communications coordinator with the GRCA said there is now a brand-new fence around the perimeter of the Elora Quarry.

“The previous fence was not a substantial fence, it was not effective in keeping people who were intent on trespassing in the park out of the park,” Linwood said.

Linwood said the GRCA also has had to deal with additional security issues in regards to trespassing.

“We certainly anticipate that the fencing will […] cut down on the number of people trying to get into the park, through means other than the front gate,” he stated.

Linwood said even though the Elora Quarry was closed in 2020, due to the pandemic, there were still a number of trespassing incidents.

“We had more than 2,000 trespassing incidents last year, which is certainly substantial, and certainly took up a number of both GRCA resources and OPP resources as well,” Linwood said.

Linwood said the GRCA recognizes that the demand to get outdoors was high last year because of the pandemic, and they saw that throughout all of their parks.

“But certainly, in a property like Elora Quarry, which we have struggled with capacity in previous years as well and implemented measures to help mitigate that, it certainly is still a high number,” he said.

He said that in a traditional year the number of trespassing incidents would not be so high because the park would be open.

Linwood added that back in May 2020 they had an unfortunate incident occur at the quarry.

“Where an individual or a group of individuals were trespassing in the park [and] unfortunately there was a drowning incident related to that trespassing, and that’s certainly a concern,” Linwood said.

The tender for the construction of the fencing was awarded to Avion Construction Group Inc., and the total project budget was $175,000 dollars.

Cam Linwood, communications coordinator with the GRCA:

The GRCA awarded the tender for the construction of the perimeter fencing to Avion Construction Group Inc. Photo by: Austin Cardinell