Some residents of CRAB Park were allowed to return to the encampment Thursday, after a days-long “clean-up” by the City of Vancouver.
The work began after the park was cleared on March 25. The city says over the last week, it has cleaned and done repairs in the park, adding features like a gravel surface to improve drainage.
Vancouver Park Board GM Steve Jackson says there are also 27 new 10×10 designated sheltering sites for those who had been living in the area as of Feb. 26 and have not already found housing.
“That’s enough room for a tent and a canopy to go over top. Enough space for some belongings, as well,” he said.
“Our commitment is to make sure that those who were here at the tail-end of February, who we asked to leave so we could do the clean-up, do find a space back in the designated zone.”
However, some residents are questioning whether all this work was necessary. David Bradbury is among those who doesn’t think so.
“It’s the city and it’s the public that’s really paying for it,” he told CityNews.
CRAB Park is the only legal encampment in Vancouver. The city previously said it was undertaking the clean-up effort due to health and safety concerns.
Officials have stressed this was “not a decampment.” However, not everyone agrees with that.
“It is — it’s a decampment — and it’s frustrating. They want us to accept it and I don’t think we should,” Bradbury said. “They tell you one thing, they do another, and you have to accept that? Well, no, we don’t. We don’t.”
The city says, despite delays, the clean-up went smoothly, with over 90,000 kilograms of debris removed.
Officials have stressed that those returning to shelter at CRAB Park must abide by specific bylaws and guidelines.
“A large piece of this being successful will come down to the continued dialogue we have with those sheltering here and their respect for the guidelines that we put in place,” Jackson said.
“The idea is to maintain sightlines so that what we saw last time around, with a lot of debris and rats and all of the sort of unhygienic scenarios, [don’t arise] again.”
As residents leave or move into shelters, the city says it will be removing marked-out sheltering spaces from CRAB Park. If conditions deteriorate, the sheltering area may also be reduced once again to only allow temporary overnight sheltering — forcing those who stay during the day to leave.
-With files from Pippa Norman