Residents being replaced by thieves as Victoria mobile home park shuts down

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WATCH: As the deadline approaches for residents of Triple Oaks Mobile Home Park to move out, the park manager says they’re being replaced by vandals and thieves. April Lawrence reports.

Triple Oaks mobile home park was all but a ghost town Tuesday as the hours ticked down to its permanent closure.

But ever since residents have been moving out, thieves have been moving in.

“It’s just been awful in the last say week just people coming into the park, just helping themselves, going through trailers, taking stuff,” said park manager Rob Walsh.

Walsh had to call in West Shore RCMP Tuesday afternoon after discovering the wiring for the sewage pump had just been stolen.

“We now possibly have no sewer control to pump the sewer out of our park and the park next door because these guys have cut wires trying to get copper,” he said.

He said he saw two men, who are not residents, with wire cutters and once he told them he was calling the police, they took off.

“This is very frustrating, I can’t be everywhere once, this is happening during the daytime,” he said.

Residents report seeing vandalism, including a trailer that was smashed in with a bat, while others have had copper pipes, and even furniture stolen.

“Looking through each place, they’re ripping out windows, whatever they can I guess,” said resident Anthony Yseyko.

It’s making a difficult situation even harder to endure. The park has been sold and is being turned into apartments. Residents were given notice eight months ago but most won’t see a dime in compensation for the trailers they have had to leave behind.

“I paid $136,000 initially and I lose everything,” said Yseyko.

Fortunately, he was able to buy a townhouse but says most of the seniors who lived at the park weren’t so lucky.

“With them, it’s going to be a lot more difficult for them trying to find a place they can actually afford,” he said. “Several moved up Island just to move in a suite with their children.”

Only three of the 41 trailers on the property were moved. Most will be demolished.

In explaining the reason for the closure, the company managing the park, Tribe Works Creative, said infrastructure has failed because it’s so old, and the owner can’t afford to carry on the business.

The deadline for everyone to be out is midnight.

April LawrenceApril Lawrence

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