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Truly the end: A bitter Canada Day for evicted Belcarra Park cottage owners
By Jeremy Deutsch, Tri Cities Now 2 July 2014
The long battle by a group of residents trying to stay in their cottages in Belcarra Regional Park is over.
On Friday, the Metro Vancouver board upheld a decision to evict the residents, known as the Belcarra South Preservation Society, by June 30.
The board also decided the buildings could stay for now.
But word that the eviction notice would be upheld was disappointing for Jo Ledingham, a resident in one of the cottages for decades, who now finds herself out of a home.
“We’re in a state of shock,” she told the Tri-Cities NOW.
“It hasn’t really sunk in. We are really leaving here.”
The issue around the cottages dates back years. In 2013, Metro Vancouver served the residents with an eviction notice, which would have seen them out by the end of August last year.
The notice was eventually extended to the end of June 2014.
Ledingham said she hoped to get another 60 days since an appeal of the original decision was still under way until this past Friday, but that didn’t happen.
Metro Vancouver gave the cottagers several reasons for the eviction notice, including an interest in expanding the park and improving access to a beach nearby.
The regional district had also expressed liability concerns regarding the water supply and the state of the cottages.
The society offered proposals to address both the liability and public access issues, along with public programming.
In late May, the group received word shortly after the deadline that Metro Vancouver would disconnect the utilities and lock up the doors and windows.
Ledingham said she was told by Metro Vancouver staff she and the rest of the cottagers would be given some extra time to pack up and go, but that they wanted to see some movement by mid-July.
As the deadline hits, the long-time resident, who has lived in her cottage since 1978, said she has no idea where she’s going to live.
“I’ve lived in this house for so long, what do I know about renting a house?” Ledingham said, noting it will be 90 years since the cottage hasn’t had a tenant.
“At the age of almost 74, I’m going to have to reinvent myself.”
As for the cottages, Ledingham predicts Metro Vancouver will tear them down at some point after the summer, suggesting the regional district never wanted them there.
There are seven cottages located in the regional park, six of which have Port Moody addresses.
In April, Port Moody council voted in favour of adding the cottages to the city’s heritage registry.
Adding the cottages to the registry just means the district would have to give 60 days’ notice before tearing them down.
http://www.theprovince.com/Truly+bitter+Canada+evicted+Belcarra+Park+cottage+owners/9991227/story.html | 
