“It is our private property.   We have tried to accommodate the province and the public, but in the end, it is our property and if the government wants it for public use they should deal in good faith and negotiate an access.   We don’t have an obligation to the public as private land owners.”

The 8.5 acre property above is privately owned. Debi McGinn was asked to make it possible for the public to get to a hike trail along the lakefront in Kaleden and she did this with the promise of the BC government that a land swap would be done quickly.

The word “quickly” is sticking in the craw says McGinn because the Trails section of the provincial government will not discuss the land swap in writing and seems to keep changing their minds on what is owned by who and what should be swapped.

That same government appears to be getting heavy handed says the landowner.

McGinn seen below says her property along Alder Avenue north of Lakehill Road used to be KV rail track land but was purchased by her family from Canadian Pacific in 2010 for two purposes. A residence on the north end and a number of lots to be subdivided off the south end. It is all fenced  and gated. The north end of the property abuts crown land and the lake where the hike path ends.

One section of the property, just off Alder Ave is open to the public but McGinn says negotiations have not been friendly or speedy. In the last couple of weeks, based on complaints, the Ministry of the Environment took down some fencing and chain on one portion of McGinn’s land indicating it was impeding traffic along the lake. Not so says McGinn showing this reporter the access given to the public even though it is private property.

McGinn says she has spoken to the local MLA Linda Larson and Premier Christy Clark.

Trespass notice was given to McGinn recently and her lawyer Jeff Frame says the area in question is “within our client’s surveyed boundaries” and the area has not been returned to the Crown.