Residents of the Vedder River Campground vented their frustration Saturday over an eviction order from the Cultus Lake Park Board.
For three decades, camping families have paid for seasonal sites and winter storage for their trailers. Close to 80 campsites boast improvements like cedar decks, gazebos, fences and landscaping. For many seniors and people with disabilities the edict to remove everything by the end of October is punishing.
The Cultus Lake Board said they are not the bad guys.
“We’re being forced to do this,” Larry Payeur of the Cultus Lake Board told a group of campers at a meeting on Saturday. “We don’t want to do this.”
WATCH: Changes at Vedder River Campground
The land is owned by B.C.’s Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Operations and they allegedly told the board in July that they are breaking the rules and they won’t get another licence to operate without clearing out the camp.
“We’re trying to comply and get into compliance with our licence of occupation and to follow the rules now,” Bonny Bryant of the Cultus Lake Park Board said.
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Global News reached out to the ministry to ask if campers can get a one-year extension so they have time to sell their trailers and dismantle any permanent structures.
A ministry spokesman replied in an email: “It would be up to the Cultus Lake Park Board, given they issued the notices. The ministry would be supportive if the board wanted to extend the vacate period.”
When Global News shared the ministry’s statement with Bryant, she didn’t make any promises.
“I’d guess we’d have to confirm exactly what that extension looks like,” she said. “We’d be more than happy to do an extension, but it’s ultimately up to the board to make that decision.”
– With files from Julia Foy
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