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Kelowna  

Beach walk for access

A group of Kelowna residents are fed up with the lack of access along the Okanagan Lake foreshore.

To bring awareness to how bad the issue is, they plan to walk from City Park to Rotary Beach.

The walk, organized by PLANKelowna and Walk the Beach Kelowna, is scheduled for Aug. 27, at 1 p.m.

PLANKelowna is a newly formed advocacy group, describing themselves as a group "dedicated to increasing and enhancing public access to Okanagan Lake in Kelowna."

Brenda Bachmann, who organized the walk, has been contemplating something like this for about 10 years.

"It started during one of my runs when I all of a sudden ran into a fence. I started climbing over it and a guy yelled at me to get off his fence," said Bachmann.

"During this last winter I thought I would hire a drone and bring this to light, to see what is going on there. It's hidden to most people."

The video was done before many of the docks and other obstructions were damage or destroyed by high water and flooding.

Recently, Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran called on the province, which has jurisdiction over the foreshore, to ensure people's access to those areas are protected, as homeowners begin the process of rebuilding and repairing.

There are as many as 14 property owners who have what is referred to as water lots, property that extends into the lake, and therefore are not subject to any such restrictions.

Bachmann says she has spent time recently at city hall, going over maps and talking with staff members.

She says she has not been able to find any water lots along the stretch of beach her group proposes to walk.

"I'm in real estate," she said. "Through my career, I have only come across one water lot, and that's on the Westside. I want to see a water lot, I want to see proof that people own them, and it's not just an urban myth."

If someone has proof they have a water lot, Bachmann says she would like to see it.

"I don't want to be walking along the beach and have someone scream at us that they own the beach," she said.

"I don't want to be trespassing. If someone owns the foreshore rights, I would like to hear from them."



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