PUSLINCH — Puslinch township has partnered with the City of Guelph to crack down on hunters taking advantage of a "loophole" near the Niska Bridge on the Speed River.
Presenting to Puslinch council Wednesday morning, Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) CAO Sam Lawson said they've received "a number of complaints" about hunting up-and-downstream the Speed River by Niska Bridge from Guelph residents living in neighbouring urban areas.
According to Lawson, residents are technically permitted to hunt in the riverbed because it's crown land and the GRCA believes hunters are gaining access through the road right of way to the river.
To address the issue, the GRCA has been working with the OPP, the Guelph Police Service (GPS) and the City of Guelph to ensure clear no hunting allowed signage is present on GRCA-owned land portions on either side of the river.
They've also delegated authority to GPS and OPP to charge anybody trespassing or doing any other illegal activity on-site.
"It seems like a loophole that people have figured out and we're going to try to mitigate that," said Puslinch Mayor James Seeley, during the meeting.
He later suggested installing barriers and signage at a historic snowplow turnaround on the west side of Badley Bridge to mitigate hunter parking as well as a shared service agreement with the City of Guelph and Puslinch to enforce the township parking bylaw on Niska Road
"My thoughts are is if these people have to park a kilometre away and walk down the road with a gun on their shoulder, it's going to discourage this activity that it sounds like no one really wants in that area," said Seeley.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.