Goldstream Park campground reopens Friday morning, more than two weeks after a homeless camp left the site.
For the first time in about a month, the Goldstream Provincial Park campground is open to the public.
The gates opened to the campground at 8 a.m., which had been closed after a group of around 30 homeless campers who had been evicted from two locations in Saanich set up their tents in the area Sep. 18.
The following day, West Shore RCMP and park rangers moved in to shut the main gate leading to the campsite.
The homeless group, and other campers not associated with the encampment, were told they would have to leave Sep. 20.
Although the tent city residents were told by the province they could stay when that deadline approached, the province said Sep. 26 they would have to leave by Oct. 2.
The Ministry of the Environment did not immediately reopen the park after the homeless campers left, saying they had found needles and potential soil contamination during an inspection.
The group campsites did remain open to the public.
On Thursday, the ministry said cleanup and remediation of the campground was done.
The Ministry of Environment said costs for the tent city at Goldstream and subsequent cleanup aren’t available yet.
CHEK News
