The Rosebud Valley Campground is a serene place, nestled just east of the town of Didsbury, Alta., north of Calgary.
For the past three years, it’s been home for Martin Van Buuren, but this weekend brings the end of an arrangement he wishes could have kept going.
“Being in this park, I like it,” he said.
“The town is great, the people are awesome. Everybody gets along.”
Van Buuren and other long-term residents of the park — of which there are several — have been hit with a sudden change by the Town of Didsbury, which manages the property.
The town has moved the reservation system online, requiring payments up front.
While Van Buuren and others are still able to pay month to month like they have for years — they run the risk of their spot being snatched up by weekend campers.
“If I was staying here, anyone can book my site,” Van Buuren says.
“That means I’d have to move my trailer (around the campground).”
Or worse.
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If the campground was fully booked on a particular weekend before Van Buuren had paid for the next month, he’d be forced to hitch up and take his trailer away.
“I’ve been here so long… I don’t understand.”
The Town of Didsbury tells Global News the campground is intended for recreational use only.
Van Buuren says that’s a sudden switch-up that other long-term tenants won’t be able to manage as easily as him.
“They’re going to be running into the same problem, having to move their trailers from site to site… There’s a lot of trailers here that don’t have a vehicle to tow them.”
“I don’t know what’s going to happen if their sites get booked… if they have to find somebody to help them, or get a tow truck and be stuck with the bill.”
The community of around a dozen full-time residents is tight-knit — one Van Buuren doesn’t want to leave behind.
And he says they’re mostly here for the same reason.
“Because we can’t afford rent… If i could rent an apartment, I would.”
“I can’t do it. Paying child support and then paying here, I’m just making enough to get by.”
Van Buuren was initially told he’d have to vacate the property by 2:30 p.m. on Thursday.
So he reached out to Didsbury Zion Church across the street, hoping he could park there for a night.
“We would help with things like that,” said Pastor Bruce Archer.
“They’re coming at a very vulnerable time.”
Archer estimates the church spends thousands of dollars on support for locals each year.
“Most of the people who come here come from the RCMP, hospital, town hall — they would have been there and they say the church will help you out.”
Van Buuren won’t need that help for a few more nights. After Global News reached out, the Town of Didsbury granted him three extra days to stay until Sunday night, which he says he’d already paid for.
And while he has a few options for his new landing spot, his new long-term home is still unclear.
But he says he’s happy he no longer has to rush.
“Just so I can get (the site) cleaned up so the town doesn’t have to come down and do all this — I’ll try to do as much stuff as I can.”
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