Bry-Mar RV Park and Campground, located roughly seven kilometres east of Brandon, has a beautiful landscape. In spite of the countless compliments Bryan Abey, property owner, receives by drivers coming in to Brandon, Manitoba Highways are forcing him to remove the dozens of trees.
The property has been in the Abey family for 138 years, says Abey, and his father sold the section of land to Manitoba Highways years ago for the sole purpose of a frontage road and bridge over the nearby creek. A project that, Abey says, will never happen.
“My father sold this section of land to them years ago for the sole purpose of a bridge,” said Abey.
“That will never happen. Highways have even told my neighbours that it will never happen, although they haven’t admitted that to me yet.”
Because Abey’s house is two-feet over the property line, Manitoba Highways have offered him a deal of sorts. Either Abey can move his entire house, or the highways will sell him back 30 feet of land in exchange for the removal of all the trees in front of the property.
“It’s basically blackmail,” said Abey. “These trees have been growing here for up to 16 years, and they didn’t even bring this up until last year.”
Behind his property, Abey runs a campground with 57 fully serviced lots. The beautiful landscaping is a part of the draw to bring in campers.
“We’ve been to the MLA, we’ve talked to lawyers,” said Abey.
“But they won’t touch it. They say ‘if highways want you gone, you are gone’.”
“We even wrote a letter to the queen,” added Bev Schott, who has been working with the campground for three years.
“It just makes me ill. It’s such a beautiful area, and they just want to cut it all down.”
Abey says he has been trying to compromise, having already relocated several trees, a fence, and the campground sign.
“They even want us to fill in the well we have on the property,” said Abey.
“Digging a new one would cost us up to $30,000, and the cost of moving all the trees could run up to $20,000 unless we were to just take a chainsaw and cut them all down.”
Seven representatives from Manitoba Highways have already come to examine the property, including five from Winnipeg. According to Abey, the representatives from Winnipeg were on his side.
“The guys from Winnipeg thought it looked beautiful, and they didn’t want to see it all get destroyed,” he said.
“But the two from Brandon are holding their position. They either want the house moved, or the trees removed.”
Highway workers have already expressed their demands by coming and removing two of their own trees from the front of the property, though not on neighbouring lands.
“I don’t want to cause trouble between neighbours,” said Abey.
“But if they are doing this to us, why aren’t they doing the same thing over there? Why don’t they cut down more of their own trees that would be in the way?”
The MLA and Minister of Transport are currently in talks about the situation, and Abey says it will be resolved one-way or another by the end of May.
“If they decide to stick to their guns, we have until August 1 to move all the trees,” he said.
“If we don’t get it done ourselves, they will come and clear-cut it all, then charge me for it.”
“If they were actually going to put this bridge in, I would be more than happy to move my house,” continued Abey.
“But that won’t happen. They have been very clear that the bridge will not happen. They just want the trees gone, and have no intentions of using the land for anything. It really seems like someone just showing their power.”
The Bry-Mar campground has dozens of landscaping projects on the go, shaping the grounds up to be a beautiful spot for campers who don’t want to travel too far to enjoy the outdoors. If the trees were to be removed, Abey says it would be a tragedy.
“It’s just such a beautiful area,” he said.
“So many people compliment us on it and enjoy it. Why would they want to destroy it for nothing?”