Was it right for Newbury town officials to order people to stay away from the Plum Island dune?”
Newbury town officials have a message for visitors: “Welcome to Plum Island and please stay off the dunes!” The first warm, summerlike weather of the year over the weekend brought flocks of people to Plum Island’s beach. Unfortunately, it also brought several people who enjoyed climbing on the artificial dune that was built in November and December to protect a half-dozen buildings that were in imminent danger of falling onto the beach. The dune, actually a network of giant sandbags covered with sand, is extremely fragile and should be left alone, town officials have repeatedly said in the months since it was completed. High surf from an offshore storm on April 18 and 19 washed out most of the sections of snow fence that had been installed along the beach at the bottom of the dune. The loss of the fence has exposed the dune to people who over the weekend climbed it, walked along the top, slid down it and pulled out stalks of dune grass that had been planted to hold the sand in place. T
PLUM ISLAND — Newbury town officials have a message for visitors: “Welcome to Plum Island and please stay off the dunes!” The first warm, summerlike weather of the year over the weekend brought flocks of people to Plum Island’s beach. Unfortunately, it also brought several people who enjoyed climbing on the artificial dune that was built in November and December to protect a half-dozen buildings that were in imminent danger of falling onto the beach. The dune, actually a network of giant sandbags covered with sand, is extremely fragile and should be left alone, town officials have repeatedly said in the months since it was completed. High surf from an offshore storm on April 18 and 19 washed out most of the sections of snow fence that had been installed along the beach at the bottom of the dune. The loss of the fence has exposed the dune to people who over the weekend climbed it, walked along the top, slid down it and pulled out stalks of dune grass that had been planted to hold the sa
