Cottagers coming to Peterborough County are using up local residents’ resources.

“The big problem we’ve got right now is to try and get the summer people to not come, because they’re using up all the resources,” Trent Lakes Mayor Janet Clarkson said.

There have been a lot of cottagers coming up, she said.

“One guy came to the grocery store in Buckhorn yesterday who was from Brampton and he bought $1,500 worth of groceries,” she said Wednesday.

“You take $1,500 worth of groceries out of Foodland in Buckhorn, that’s already stretched to the limit to try to maintain the local population, because they can’t get food either.”

The roads in Buckhorn right now are already as busy as they get in July, Clarkson said.

“We’re normally 10,000 people in the summer and 5,000 people in the winter,” she said.

“Buckhorn is our only metropolis. For the most part, we’re a pretty isolated group.”

Clarkson thinks cottagers are endangering local residents.

“People are flocking to the country and they’re not self-isolating. They’re visiting the drug store, the food store and the liquor store,” she said.

“We don’t have the infrastructure to handle them if this thing goes sideways.”

Peterborough County Warden, J. Murray Jones said this it’s a county-wide problem.

“I think it’s a general issue, people coming from out of town, right across the county. Particularly in townships that have lakes, where cottages are,” Jones said.

While he respects individuals who have properties in the county, they should stay home, he said.

“We certainly respect them and every right that they have to come to their property,” Jones said.

“It’s not about whether we want them there. It’s not about whether we respect their ability to come here, it’s all about saving people from dying.

“We’re following the provincial and federal rules, and asking everyone to stay at home in their principal residences because we just can’t handle the extra load up here.”

Clarkson said they’re not trying to make cottagers feel unwelcome.

“That’s not part of it. It’s simply not safe. We’re trying to protect ourselves,” she said.

“It’s very difficult to get the psychology to change. People have this idea of let’s go to the country, it’s safer there, and we can do everything we can’t do in the city.”

If cottagers do come, Clarkson said they should come prepared.

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However, Jones is urging cottagers to just stay home.

“If they can stay home and it means that one person lives, I think it’s worth it,” he said.

Earlier this week Curve Lake First Nation restricted access to permanent members through a checkpoint at the entrance.