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Open Spaces In the NewsThe Newport Daily News - 10/17/2006
Our beaches need official protection (new window)
Most residents of Newport County would agree
that our open spaces are a big part of our quality of life. As such,
parks and beaches and even athletic and recreation fields ought to be
permanently protected from future development. "Our biggest asset will be that asset forever," said Mason Hawes, chairman of the town's Open Space & Fields Committee. We agree. In recent years, the town has made strides in protecting Paradise Park, supporting an effort to preserve the former Third Beach Club property and purchasing 50 acres of open space in the Valley area of town for a future town park. Securing its beaches - an economic driver as well as an attraction for residents - ought to be a top priority. "We all assume it's going to be that way forever, but you can never tell what might happen 20 years from now," said Rian Wilkinson, chairman of the town's Beach Commission. "When people are visiting from out of town, they always say they can't believe there's a place between Boston and New York City like this that hasn't been developed." The same could be said of many other pristine areas of Newport County - only recently did the city of Newport secure a conservation easement on Miantonomi Park, for example - and we hope officials in all of our communities will watch what is happening in Middletown with an eye toward the future. Every city and town should take an inventory of its open spaces, including beaches, and determine which need official preservation agreements, and which could benefit from higher levels of protection to ensure future generations will be able to enjoy them, just as we do today. |
