Bill Mundie, 71, was already anticipating a tough month of chemotherapy treatments for his stomach and lung cancer.
But after receiving an eviction notice last week, he’s now looking for a new home, too.
Mundie is one of more than 125 residents of the Cheanuh Marina campground who received the notice Thursday evening from Beecher Bay First Nation, which owns the land on East Sooke Road, between East Sooke and Metchosin. Residents have been given 30 days to vacate their homes.
“It’s been a real slice, I’ve enjoyed myself here. I really don’t want to move,” said Mundie, who has lived on the campground for 11 years and has been told he has between three and six months to live.
Most residents, including Mundie, said they don’t object to the eviction as much as they do the short notice.
They met Saturday afternoon, passing a hat to raise money for a lawyer and collecting 100 names on a petition calling for more time.
“I know the fact of the matter is, ‘Yes, we have to go.’ But it’s unrealistic to be able to move our homes in 30 days,” said Arlene Weatherell, who has lived on the property for seven years.
“Everyone’s quite emotional.”
Weatherell said she has knee surgery scheduled for Monday and has been told to rest for four to six weeks. Her common-law partner is also on disability.
“There’s a problem with packing, I’ll be recovering,” she said. “And I have nowhere to go.”
Resident Owen Seeton, who has made $100,000 in improvements to his property in 2007 and 2008, said he won’t be able to move his trailer because of its size and the permanent structure attached.
And while residents were alerted with notices posted to their doors, several who rent property on the campsite but live off-site were not alerted. Andrew Slater called his mother, Judith Fagan-Cornell, in Ontario to let her know.
“Had it not been for me calling her, she wouldn’t have known. What [would have] happened to her in 30 days?” he said.
The Beecher Bay First Nation plans to convert the property to sustainable mixed-use villages, said Aaron Reith, economic development officer for the band.
Band members voted nearly 75 per cent in favour of ratifying the land code on Wednesday, which means the lots can now be leased on a 99-year term.
The band has invited the Trust for Sustainable Development to be a partner in the project. If plans go forward, the band will be paid for the value of the land up front.
It would also be a majority partner in the corporation that’s formed by the band and the trust, Reith said.
However, no lease has been signed. “We don’t have a definitive agreement yet, but we will be working toward that,” Reith said.
Meanwhile, he said the trust has asked that the land be vacated so they can begin preparing it for summer sales presentations.
Reith acknowledged it would be difficult on tenants, but said an agreement with the trust would bring prosperity, pride and well-being to the community.
“It’s not a decision made lightly,” Reith said. “The band is living in poverty, like a lot of other First Nations, and this is a way out. They’re leveraging their land to better the community.”
The band has hired Linda E. Ross Property Management to assist tenants in finding subsidized housing through relocation co-ordination services, as well as storage.
“I wish it could be both ways, but at that vote we almost had three-quarters saying yes to this. So that’s a pretty strong mandate from the community to move forward,” Reith said.
