Imagine not having easy access to your home since the spring. How would you handle groceries or get your kids to school?
That’s been exactly the situation facing four families in the Fintry High Farm area since a raging Shorts Creek knocked out their bridge and eight-kilometre driveway to Westside Road.
“Currently, we have a vehicle on each side of the creek so we have to walk across the creek and transfer supplies,” said Jason Souch, one of the residents.
Now one of the challenges is the driveway is on private property and the owner of the land does not live there although his family does. Assistance is also only for homes, not land damaged. That makes him ineligible for disaster relief, which means government rules leave the other residents stranded.
Adding to this, the residents submitted a plan Oct. 11 to repair the bridge, but it could take months before the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources issues the required permit. Obviously, officials must ensure the bridge is safe but winter is coming and that area gets considerable snow.
It would be easy to say that these families live in a rural area and must contend with what nature brings, but there’s been a bridge there for 100 years and the subdivision was created in the 1970s. These families deserve the same consideration others do when faced with an emergency.
Government says it will prioritize the matter at Fintry High Farm. Let’s hope so.
