The battle over a grassroots hot spring in the community of Harrison continues with the B.C. government ordering the restoration of the so-called Hobo Hot Springs.
The spot, not far from the Harrison Resort, where natural hot water percolates up from the ground, had been built up with rocks and logs by the locals in order to enjoy a free soak in the wilderness.
However, last October, it was discovered someone had filled in the springs with rocks and dirt.
Harrison’s mayor, Fred Talen, said at the time that the Harrison Hot Springs resort was responsible for shutting down the pools.
“There’s a resort here who want to monopolize the hot springs experience, and that’s wrong,” he told Global News on Tuesday.
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“These are public hot springs, public lands, it’s a public resource. I think the public should have access to them.”
Over the weekend, the resort also put up a chainlink fence around the site, however the fence was approved by the B.C. government while the resort did some restoration work.
Now the B.C. government has ordered the natural hot spring to be restored to the more natural state it was before it was filled in.
“Our first priority is that they remain healthy, and then our second priority is enjoyment, right, because we want people to go out and enjoy these areas. When you enjoy natural spaces, you fall in love with them and then you want to take care of them,” Randene Neill, B.C.’s minister for water, land and resource stewardship, told Global News.
Global News reached out to the resort for an interview but did not hear back.
Once work is completed on the hot springs, the fence will be removed.
Talen also said that he would like to see improvements to the public hot springs but he said the resort is not open to discussion.
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